


Second Time Lucky

by written_in_starlight



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: #givevanyaahug2k19, #givevanyaalovingfamily2k19, (ok that's better lol), (ok time to go through and redo tags), Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Kidnapping, Luther Hargreeves Being an Asshole, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, With varying levels of success, allison tries to be a good sister sometimes, also this tag that popped up, ben just wants some good book recommendations, but not as bad as luther, diego's kinda an asshole, five is a tiny asshole who shows up for a chapter then fucks right off on his own tangent, it's a fun time yo, she's my friends favorite character so i want her to be happy to make my friend happy, since vanya's now adopted twice lol, vanya seriously needs a nap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-19
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-09-07 12:36:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 23,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20309614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/written_in_starlight/pseuds/written_in_starlight
Summary: What if, when Vanya lost control of her powers as a child, Sir Reginald Hargreeves was marginally less of a colossal dick and didn't decide to convince Vanya she was normal and then shove that fact in her face with her six superpowered siblings. Instead, what if he convinces Vanya she's normal, then pawns her off on some random family so he can worry more about training his apocalypse-stopping team, and less about monitoring the ticking time-bomb under his care. Nothing can go wrong with that plan. Completely foolproof. She'll never know she was once a part of the Umbrella Academy. She can go about her life as a normal girl, not interfering with Reginald's plans.Newsflash asshole. Life doesn't work that way. And now Vanya's out for some answers.





	1. Twenty-Six Years Ago

Number 7 was four years old when she lost control of her powers, scaring the shit out of her adoptive father/trainer/Hellmaster.

As she laid in bed that night, terrified despite the comfort Number 5 tried to give her, Sir Reginald Hargreeves sat up in his study, as he usually did, pondering this predicament. He could already tell he wouldn’t be able to control Number 7 and her powers. He could always have Number 3 use her powers to convince Number 7 she was normal, but then she would just be a burden on the Academy. A burden that should be watched closely, but still a burden.

Unless… he could pawn her off on some family looking to adopt a little girl. Somebody nearby, so he could keep close tabs on her, but otherwise focus his energy on the six children he could control.

Yes, this was looking better and better by the minute.

And so Sir Reginald Hargreeves started to plot, pulling the many influential strings he had.

The next morning, he took Number 7 to the nearby orphanage he had selected.

“You’re in luck,” the warden of the home said as she invited them in. “Just had a couple walk in looking to adopt, lovely folk, they only live a few miles from your Academy. I told them we had just the girl for them, sent them into the parlor to wait. Is this the little darling?” She crouched down to the same height as Number 7.

“This is the girl,” Sir Reginald said stiffly.

“Right then.” The warden stood back up to her full height again.

“You remember the story?” Sir Reginald asked.

“The poor dear has some health problems, but her birth parents are wealthy and willing to pay for her medication,” the warden replied promptly.

“And why didn’t they want her?” Sir Reginald asked.

“The parents didn’t give me any reason, and I’m not inclined to pry.”

“Good.”

“Does she have a name?” The warden hazarded the question.

Sir Reginald turned to Grace, who had appeared at his side right on time, Number 3 in tow.

“Vanya,” Grace replied to the warden.

“Well then Vanya,” the warden turned to Number 7. “Let’s go meet this lovely couple, shall we?”

And she took Number 7 by the hand and led her through the parlor doors.

A half hour later, the warden ushered Number 7 out, a smile on her face. “They said they’ll adopt her,” she said. “They’re just filling out the paperwork now. I’ll leave her with you for now.” And with that the warden bustled out of the foyer.

Grace turned to Number 3, who had been swinging her legs idly while they waited. “Remember what we practiced dear?” she asked.

Number 3 nodded, hopping down from her chair. Number 7 looked up at Sir Reginald for a moment, her dark eyes so serious, before she turned to look at Number 3.

“I heard a rumor,” Number 3 started, “you think you’re just ordinary.” She looked up at Grace.

“And the second part dear,” Grace prompted.

“I heard a rumor you didn’t remember your time in the Umbrella Academy.”

Number 7 blinked, her face going blank for a moment before twisting in confusion.

“That’s a good girl,” Grace praised Number 3, taking her by the hand. “Now come along, we must be getting home.”

“But,” Number 3 started to protest, looking back at the confused Number 7.

“Number 3,” Sir Reginald barked, stamping his cane.

Number 3 quieted, though she still glanced over her shoulder as Grace led her out of the orphanage.

Sir Reginald followed, not sparing a second look at the small four-year-old alone in the foyer.

Pietro and Marsha Hernandez were in just a little over their heads.

The orphanage’s warden had informed them that little Vanya had actually come from the mysterious Umbrella Academy, just a few miles away from their place. The warden hurried to reassure them that there was nothing wrong with Vanya, just that she wasn’t a good fit for the Academy. Really, the only reason why it was relevant was to explain any discrepancies they might find in her official documents up till this point.

Pietro and Marsha had exchanged a glance, but they were already in too far, and besides, Vanya had been quiet but precious when they met her.

And so they took her home as planned, going through the adventure of introducing her to their son, seven-year-old Chris.

And once the two children were upstairs asleep, tuckered out by the day’s events, Pietro and Marsha sat down at the kitchen table to see exactly what discrepancies they might notice. It was really quite obvious though, the missing name on Vanya’s birth certificate.

Pietro tapped on the date of birth. “Remember that scandal?” he asked Marsha. “A whole bunch of women all over the world suddenly gave birth without warning, remember? And then there were all those rumors of this guy going around adopting a bunch of the kids?”

“Do you think Vanya’s one of them?”

“Makes sense,” Pietro shrugged. “She’s born the right day, and explains why there’s not a name on the certificate. That must be what that Academy is all about though. Something to do with all those kids.”

“Well then, no need for her to be associated with them,” Marsha decided firmly. “We’ll keep this between you and I, for her sake.”

“Alright dear,” Pietro agreed fondly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. The prologue of my first actual fic I'm posting. As such, if I miss tagging anything or I'm doin some dumb shit bc I don't know how AO3 works as an author, lemme know so I can fix it. Thanks n enjoy :)


	2. 8 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 1

Thirty-year-old Vanya Maria Hernandez was having an identity crisis.

“It’s not funny,” she snapped at her adoptive brother.

“You’re right.” Christopher Alonso Hernandez bared his teeth in a predatory grin. “It’s fucking hilarious.”

Vanya chucked a pencil at him, and he batted it aside effortlessly.

“I mean, come on, how have you not looked at your birth certificate until now?” Chris defended himself, leaning against his desk as he sipped at his coffee.

“Because last time I had to renew something using it Mom and Dad were still alive and they mostly took care of it,” Vanya retorted. “Oh stop being so casual Chris, my birth certificate doesn’t have my fucking name on it!”

“Maybe your parents didn’t name you,” Chris suggested.

“For four years?” Vanya shot back. “Christ—what the hell were they thinking?”

“Beats me,” Chris shrugged. “Could go ask them.”

“There’s no father listed and my birth mother’s name is redacted.” Vanya brandished the document at Chris. “Fucking _redacted _Christopher. Why the hell is it redacted?”

“Why the hell would I know?”

“Because you might have looked up something like this before.”

“Vanya, what the hell books do you think I’m writing?” Chris looked almost offended, if it weren’t for the smile quirking at the corner of his mouth.

Vanya sighed. “And Mom and Dad never said anything about where they adopted me from?”

“Nope.” Chris popped the _p_. “Never heard them talk about it.”

“Shit,” Vanya cursed.

“Come on V, I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Chris said. “Mom and Dad got away with it for years, just explain you were adopted and don’t know why the hell your birth certificate is Like That.”

“But I want to know why it’s Like That,” Vanya said petulantly.

“Well shit V, I’m out of options then.”

The tv blared with a news announcement, and with a glance at Vanya, Chris turned it up, hopping up to sit on his desk. Vanya set aside her birth certificate and focused on the news.

“Moments ago, police reported the death of eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves,” the newscaster read off. “Hargreeves was notably the head of the Umbrella Academy, a group of crime-fighting children with superpowers.”

At that, Vanya looked down at her birth certificate, then back up at Chris.

Chris saw her look and shook his head. “No,” he said.

But Vanya was already nodding. “Yes.”

“Don’t do it V.”

“I’m gonna do it.”

“He’s dead V.”

“And he has six children who are probably coming into town in the next day or so.”

“They might not know anything V.”

“But they might,” Vanya replied.

Chris sighed. “Fine. If you’re gonna be stubborn, I’m coming with you.”

“Don’t you have to get that draft of your next book to your editor like, tomorrow?”

“Family first,” Chris waved off her concern. “Eric knows that.”

“You just don’t wanna admit you have a serious case of writer’s block.”

“And Eric doesn’t need to know that.”

Vanya snorted. “Fine, whatever. You can tag along.”

“Christ this place looks depressing,” Chris mumbled around the cigarette between his lips.

“Put that out,” Vanya hissed, approaching the door and ringing the doorbell.

Chris scowled, but stubbed out his cigarette as they waited. Finally, the door was answered by a chimpanzee in a suit and glasses, leaning heavily on a cane. Vanya swallowed down her surprise as Chris muttered a curse of surprise behind her back.

“Sorry, but we are not speaking to any news reporters at this time,” the chimpanzee _spoke_, making to close the door again.

Vanya stuck out her foot to prevent it closing. “We’re not with any news station,” she said, flashing a glare over her shoulder to tell Chris to _behave_. “I was hoping to speak with somebody close to Sir Reginald Hargreeves? One of his children perhaps?”

“Who are you?” the chimpanzee asked, his tone short. “What is this all about?”

“I’m Vanya Hernandez,” Vanya introduced herself. “And this is my brother Chris.” Chris waved hello over her shoulder.

The chimpanzee’s expression immediately changed at her introduction. “My, Miss Vanya, it’s been years.”

“You know me?” Vanya asked.

“Yes, well, it’s a rather long story,” the chimpanzee said evasively. “Why do you want to speak with somebody close to Sir Reginald?”

“See, I was looking at my birth certificate, and I noticed there was no name listed, nor any father, and my birth mother’s name was redacted. And I thought it might have something to do with the Umbrella Academy, so I figured why not ask?”

“Some things, my dear, are better left alone,” the chimpanzee said seriously.

“Well I’m not one to leave those things alone.” Vanya flashed him a smile she had learned from Chris, sweet and friendly and full of venom.

The chimpanzee sighed. “Very well,” he said. “Come in. We’ll discuss this more in the study.”

The study, however, was already occupied.

“Who’s this?” The man who had spoken was tall, towering over Vanya and Chris, and incredibly broad. “Why are you letting reporters in the house Pogo?”

Vanya just _knew _her brother was getting ready to square up to this monster of a man, and subtly stomped on his foot to tell him to stand the _fuck _down. Chris yelped and gave her an affronted look.

“They’re not reporters Luther,” the chimpanzee, who must be Pogo, replied.

But the other man was already on the move, tripping over his feet like a newborn deer as he made his way over to Vanya and Chris. “So nice to meet you,” he drawled, taking Vanya’s hand in both his own. “Klaus Hargreeves. Number 4. If you’re interested in hearing from one of the poor, bereaved children…”

The woman in the room snorted as Vanya reclaimed her hand. “Again, not reporters,” she said. Her college roommate had associated with the seedier sides of town during their time together, and Vanya could recognize a junkie from miles away. “Just have a couple questions for Pogo here. Personal questions,” she clarified, staring up at the giant named Luther.

Luther looked like he wanted to argue, but the woman spoke up. “Come on Luther. I’m sure Pogo knows what he’s doing. We can catch up elsewhere.”

“Alright.” Luther definitely looked unhappy about this turn of events, but allowed the woman to lead him out of the study through another door.

Klaus lingered for a moment, but Pogo coughed and gave him a sharp look. “Oh, alright,” Klaus sighed before stumbling after the other two.

“I do apologize,” Pogo said. “Luther takes his position as head of the team very seriously, and Klaus is… well, Klaus. Now, what makes you believe you have any ties to the Umbrella Academy?”

“You confirmed it when you said you knew me,” Vanya said with a wry grin.

“Yes, but before that,” Pogo insisted.

Vanya shrugged. “I have the same birthday as the rest of the Academy kids. The same day as that scandal with a bunch of women giving birth unexpectedly. Plus, no name on birth certificate, and redacted mother’s name, and it’s worth a look into the Academy to see if they might have some answers.”

Pogo sighed heavily. “You are indeed correct in your… misgivings, Miss Vanya. Sir Reginald did adopt you when you were a baby, but as you grew up you showed no signs of having any powers, unlike your siblings. Therefore, Sir Reginald decided the best thing would be to let you have a normal upbringing and sent you to an orphanage where you were quickly adopted.”

Chris snorted partway through Pogo’s explanation. “Yeah, bullshit,” he interjected.

“Christopher!” Vanya hissed.

“Come on V, we know he’s lying,” Chris retorted.

“I assure you I am telling you the truth.” Pogo sounded offended.

Vanya sighed. Thanks to Chris for letting the metaphorical cat out of the bag.

“No Pogo, Chris is right,” she said, pulling a tuning fork out of her pocket. She liked carrying one with her at all times, since it was far more portable than a violin. “We know you’re not telling the full truth,” she continued, striking the tuning fork against the heel of her hand.

And with that, she focused on the tuning fork’s note, gathering the energy and bending it to her will to lift the assorted papers and knickknacks from the desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pst I love Chris


	3. Twelve Years Ago

Vanya and her college roommate had really been a perfect match. When needed, Vanya would drag her away from the parties and drugs and kick her ass into studying, and when needed, her roommate (whose name was Ava), would pull the violin from her hands, bandage bleeding fingers, and drag her to a party to loosen up for a few hours.

As such, when Vanya was one day complaining about how much of a _hassle_ it was to get her medication refilled, Ava had snatched the bottle from her grip, held it high so Vanya couldn’t get it back (and _damn _Vanya hated how much taller Ava was), and squinted at the label.

“Babe, it’s just a mood stabilizer.” She dropped the bottle back into Vanya’s hands.

Vanya blinked. “What?”

“Yeah.” Ava threw herself down on their couch, effortlessly casual. “So like, if you don’t feel the need, you don’t _have _to take them, ya feel me?”

“Who are you and what have you done with Ava?” Vanya joked. “Telling me _not _to take drugs?”

Ava waved her hand. “Your choice babe,” she said. “If getting the refills is that much of a hassle, then go without for a couple days. See how it feels. Don’t like it, get the refill, and you’ll know it’s worth the hassle. On the other hand, if you like it, then you don’t have to worry about it. Oh, you can let your parents worry and get you the refills if you’re worried about how they’ll react,” she headed off Vanya’s concerns. “But like, no chip off your shoulder if they’re late or something, right?”

Vanya hesitated, but Ava’s lazy grin was seemingly specifically designed to convince Vanya into doing things she maybe shouldn’t, so Vanya nodded and tossed Ava her pill bottle. “To get me out of the habit,” she explained.

“I’ll keep these safe for you then,” Ava promised, and Ava never broke a promise she made to Vanya.

It was a few days later when Vanya realized her hidden power, alone in a practice room with only her violin. So of course, she called Chris in a panic, because “Shit’s moving around and I’m not touching it and I don’t know why it’s doing that but I think it’s me.”

“V. Sister.” Chris sounded drunk off his ass. Vanya had never confirmed it, but she was sure her brother had spent his early twenties avoiding sobriety like it was the fucking plague. “From the top please. And slow, I need some time to process shit.”

Vanya took a deep, shaky breath. “I’m practicing my violin but stuff keeps moving around as I play and I’m worried I’m doing it somehow because playing the violin feels _different_ but I don’t know how to explain it and I’m kinda freaking out Chris please help me.”

There was a pause as Chris processed her words.

“Oh,” Vanya added. “And don’t be mad but Ava kinda convinced me to stop taking my meds for a bit and so I did and I don’t know if it’s related or not.”

“Shit,” Chris muttered. “Well. First off, I’m assuming this hasn’t happened before?”

“No.”

“And have you played your violin since going off your meds?”

“In rehearsal.”

“And? Did it feel different?”

Vanya hesitated. “A… little. But not like this.”

Chris hummed. “Maybe you’re like those Umbrella kids,” he joked.

“Oh please,” Vanya scoffed. “Wouldn’t that just be my luck, to be a rejected superhero.”

“Hmm. From what I’ve heard about the Academy falling apart, it’s probably better to be a rejected superhero. Buuut,” Chris drew out the last word. “Anyways. Currently little V is panicking.”

“I’m not little!”

“Ah, spitfire is strong today.”

“Chris can you help me or not?”

“How about this,” Chris bargained. “Stay off your meds for now. I’ll come around next weekend and we can try and figure this shit out together, maybe figure out how to control it or make it go away again. Okay?”

“Chris, I probably don’t say this enough, but you’re the best brother I could have.”

“You know it V,” Chris shot back.

When Vanya returned from practice, she found Ava lounging on her desk, holding Vanya’s medicine.

“So it’s been a couple of days,” Ava said, rattling the bottle in her hand. “And how you feeling babe?”

Vanya stared at the medicine bottle in Ava’s hands, Chris’s promise ringing in her ears. “I think I’m gonna give it a couple more days,” she told Ava.

“That’s my girl,” Ava grinned. “Live your life babe, just let me know if you want these back.”

And Vanya impulsively kissed Ava on the cheek, and her heart glowed at the sound of Ava’s laughter in a way it hadn’t before.


	4. 8 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 2

Vanya let the noise fade from her mind, setting everything back on the desk. Distantly from elsewhere in the house, she could hear music echoing, but ignored the sound to avoid triggering her powers again.

“So Pogo,” she said. “Either you’re lying to us, or Sir Reginald was wrong about me having powers. And considering I was drugged at his insistence for most of my life, I’m inclined to disbelieve the second.”

Vanya was sure if Pogo were human, he would have blanched at the display of her powers, tame as it was. “I truly am sorry for deceiving you, Miss Vanya,” he finally said, his voice shaking slightly. “But I was only following Sir Reginald’s instructions.”

“Why did he try to convince me and everybody else I was normal?” Vanya demanded.

“When you were young, Sir Reginald tried to train you to control your powers,” Pogo explained. “But when you lost control, he realized that your power was too great to be controlled. So he decided it would be best for all parties if you were convinced you were normal, and sent away to live a normal childhood. He kept tabs on you, but otherwise you were to have no connection to the Umbrella Academy.”

“Considering how the rest of the Academy went, it was probably a blessing in disguise,” Chris muttered.

Vanya hissed at him.

“Oh come on, I have a point!” Chris complained.

Pogo ignored them, making his way over to the desk. “If you’d like, Sir Reginald kept notes on all his children’s training,” he said, rifling through items on the desk. “You can read the notes he made on yours.”

Before Vanya could respond, thunder rumbled and the power cut out, plunging the study into darkness. There were several thuds as items flew off of the desk and slammed into the wall.

Chris ran to the window, which was lit by an unearthly blue light, and his eyes went wide. “Holy shit.” And then he was off again, dragging Vanya with him.

“What the fuck Chris!” Vanya yelped.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on,” Chris called over his shoulder, “but like _hell _I’m gonna miss this shit.”

Vanya recognized his maniacal grin, and resolved herself to being dragged as they followed Luther and the woman from earlier down flights of stairs, out into a courtyard Vanya didn’t even know existed.

“Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly,” Luther was yelling over the crackling noises flooding the courtyard.

Floating above them was a glowing blue nebula, a hazy image barely visible through the wisps.

Chris glanced back at Vanya, who was already thinking ahead of Chris and putting in earplugs. She had a pretty good handle on her powers, but sometimes loud noises would cause her to lose control.

“Either that or a miniature black hole,” Luther continued. “One of the two.”

“Pretty big difference there Paul Bunyan,” retorted a man in all black, with knives strapped basically everywhere Vanya could think to look.

“Out of the way!” Vanya and Chris were shoved aside as Klaus pushed his way through the milling group with a fire extinguisher. He sprayed it at the glowing cloud, then when that seemingly did nothing, threw it in, where it disappeared with a pop.

Vanya clamped her hands over her ears. There was still too much _noise_.

Just as Chris was grabbing her arm to bring her back inside, the glowing blue cloud disappeared, the crackling thunder fading with it. Vanya cautiously uncovered her ears and took out her earplugs, following the gaze of the rest of the group as they slowly approached something beneath where the cloud had been.

“Does anybody else see little Number 5,” Klaus said hesitantly, “or is that just me?”

Around the knife man, Vanya could see a teenager who hadn’t been there before, dressed in an ill-fitting suit with a disheveled look about him as he inspected his clothes. Finally, the teenager looked up.

“Shit.”

Not long after Number 5’s mysterious appearance, Vanya and Chris found themselves unceremoniously escorted from the house by Luther since this was a “family matter only”.

Chris glared at the closed door and childishly stuck out his tongue.

“Chris.” Vanya rolled her eyes. Sometimes it was hard to remember that _he _was the older sibling.

“Catharsis, my dear sister,” Chris retorted.

As Vanya turned to walk away from the Umbrella Academy, the door slowly opened to reveal Pogo. “I do apologize for Luther once again,” he said. “Do know, Miss Vanya, that you will always be welcome here if you’d like, especially if you have any more questions.”

“Thank you Pogo,” Vanya replied.

“And,” Pogo added, “I will contact you when I can find Sir Reginald’s notes.”

“Sounds good.”

“Take care Miss Vanya, Chris.”

Chris gave the chimpanzee a half-hearted salute as he closed the door behind him.

“One thing’s for sure,” Chris muttered as they started for home. “This family is weird as _fuck_.”

Vanya let herself into her apartment, only to be startled as _somebody else _turned on the light. Vanya’s tuning fork was in her hand in an instant, ready to strike, before she recognized the teenager lounging in her armchair.

“Number 5?”

“Just Five works fine, thanks. You should really lock your windows.”

“I live on the second floor!” Vanya closed the door behind her with a little more force than necessary.

“Rapists can climb.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, why do you care,” Vanya sighed. “More importantly, why are you here?”

“I’ve decided you’re the only one I can trust.” Five’s face was a blank slate, giving nothing away.

“Okay,” Vanya said slowly, sitting across from Five on the couch. “You have a house full of siblings to turn to and you come here, to a stranger’s house.”

“I remember you Vanya.”

Vanya blinked.

“Back before you left. Back when you were Number 7.”

“That was a long time ago,” Vanya said quietly.

“Correct.” Five inclined his head slightly.

“So.” Vanya was still confused. “Why do you trust me, the sister you haven’t seen since you were four, rather than the siblings you knew until you were…”

She trailed off, and Five finished her sentence. “Thirteen. Because you’re ordinary.”

Vanya bit her tongue at how _wrong _Five was.

“And I have to hope you’re a better listener than anybody else at the Academy.”

Okay, _that _Vanya could get behind, if Luther was any standard of the Academy.

“Okay,” Vanya started, then noticed the blood trickling down Five’s wrist. “Is that blood?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Like hell it is, I’m not letting you bleed all over my damn apartment.” Vanya was on her feet in an instant, heading for the first aid kit she kept in her bathroom. Thank you, Chris, for making _that _a necessity. “Don’t move,” she called to Five.

As she returned, Five rolled up his sleeve to reveal a bloody bandage wrapped around his forearm. Vanya hissed and got to work.

“When I was thirteen,” Five started.

Vanya shot him a questioning look.

“I jumped forward in time.” Five glared back. “You know what I found there?” He answered his own question. “Absolutely nothing. I don’t know what killed the entire human race, but I know when it happens.”

Five paused, and Vanya met his gaze.

“The world ends in eight days, and I have no idea how to stop it.”

Vanya sighed. Well fuck. It was gonna be a long night. She bandaged Five’s arm and stood. “I’ll make us some coffee then.”

Five grinned, all teeth and no laughter. “You better make a decent cup of coffee.”


	5. 7 Days Until the Apocalypse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in today's episode, I have no idea how the Hargreeves mansion is laid out, and as such will treat it as a malleable entity that only conforms to my will and plot convenience lol  
And here is where I find it mandatory to say that while this fic is purely indulgent give Vanya a hug for my friend, I am still 100% team give Benny Boi a hug and all the books and popsicles he desires lol

Vanya swore this Hargreeves family was going to be the death of her, or at the very least, the cause of a _very _bad headache.

She had let Five stay over last night, only to awaken to find the not-actually-a-teenager was gone. Her “Mom Mode” activated, she then went searching for him in the Academy, and told him off for scaring her and leaving without a warning when she found him. Five only looked mildly amused at her scolding, and Vanya knew he wasn’t taking her words to heart.

Vanya sighed to herself as she made her way through the labyrinth of hallways that comprised the Umbrella Academy. She descended yet another set of stairs, only to hear a woman arguing on the phone with somebody.

Oh no. Vanya didn’t want to get caught up with this, but she knew there was no other way down (she had been wandering for a _while_), and it looked like the only way out was either back up the stairs or right in view of the arguing woman.

Well shit.

“Don’t—” Silence fell, then the woman hung up the phone with a heavy sigh.

Double shit.

Vanya stepped down the last few steps, glancing over her shoulder and wondering if she could sneak past. No luck, as the woman looked up and noticed Vanya.

Vanya held up her hands. “Sorry, was just trying to find my way out,” she said. “Didn’t mean to walk into whatever.”

“It’s alright.” The woman took a moment to compose herself before turning to Vanya. “You’re Vanya, right? Our long-lost sister?”

“In a way,” Vanya said carefully.

“Pogo told us,” the woman explained. “To explain why you were around yesterday. I’m Allison.”

Vanya realized why she had the nagging feeling this woman was familiar. “From the movies, right?”

“Yeah,” Allison chuckled. “Yeah, that’s me.”

Vanya nodded. “Sorry again,” she said. “About walking into… whatever.” She waved her hand at the phone on the wall next to Allison.

“It’s fine,” Allison sighed. “Can’t expect a bunch of privacy in a house with four brothers, but I needed to make a call so…”

Vanya hesitantly ventured further. “Sounded rough.”

“Yeah, well.” Allison blew a stray lock of hair out of her face. “Ex-husband troubles.”

“Oooh.” Vanya winced. “I’m sorry. I’ll stop prying.”

“You’re only curious. Just like the rest of the world.” The second part was added almost in an undertone.

“And unlike the rest of the world, I won’t force any information out of you.” Vanya gave her a humorless smile.

Allison sighed, shaking her head. “I’m sorry, we’re really getting off on the wrong foot. Do you mind me asking why you’re here again today? I’m surprised yesterday’s craziness didn’t drive you off.”

“Tracking down Five.” Vanya was willing to accept whatever olive branch Allison was offering. “He stayed the night with me last night but ran off without a word and I was worried about him.”

“Sounds like Five hasn’t changed,” Allison chuckled. “You need help finding your way out? This place is a maze if you aren’t used to it.”

“Please,” Vanya said gratefully. “I swear I’ve been wandering for _hours_.”

Allison laughed again and pointed over Vanya’s shoulder. “Left at that window there,” she explained, “and just follow the hallway until you reach the foyer. Should be pretty obvious, you’ll pop out on the second floor and you’ll be able to see the living room and foyer from there. Then it’s just down the grand staircase and out the doors directly across. Sound good, or want company?”

“I think I can manage, thanks,” Vanya said. “Thank you again Allison, I was starting to worry I might miss my 4 o’clock lesson because I’d be stuck here.”

“No problem. And Vanya?” she added as Vanya started to turn to leave.

Vanya paused and looked back.

“Would you maybe like to get dinner or drinks sometime?” Allison asked. “I know we didn’t grow up together, but we were sisters for a time. And I’m be interested in getting to know you again.”

Vanya rifled through her pockets, then closed the distance between them and handed Allison one of her violin instructor cards. “My number’s on there,” she explained. “So call and we can set something up?”

Allison’s face broke into a smile. “Sounds good. Take care Vanya. Don’t be a stranger.”

“Will do.” Vanya turned and started what would hopefully be the last leg in her venture through the Hargreeves maze.

Some higher power had to be mocking Vanya, she decided as she ran into another of the Hargreeves siblings.

“Heyy Vanya.”

The door was in her sights. She could pretend she hadn’t heard him and make a break for it. But Vanya usually wasn’t rude unless people deserved it, and none of the Hargreeves had done anything to deserve it.

Yet.

Vanya sighed heavily and turned back to what appeared to be the living room. “Hey Klaus,” she greeted.

“Hey, so like, I have a question for you,” Klaus mumbled around the joint in his mouth.

“Alright…” Vanya leaned against the doorframe.

“Got any good book recommendations?”

Vanya blinked.

“Just, cause like, you’ve been out there,” Klaus waved his hand vaguely, “all your life. Definitely had more book options than us.”

Vanya couldn’t help the words slipping from her mouth. “I thought you’d be more interested in drugs than books.”

Luckily, Klaus didn’t take offense and started giggling. “Not for me silly,” he said. “For Ben!”

Last night before she’d gone home, Vanya and Chris had looked up everything they could find about the Umbrella Academy kids. Klaus, Number 4, could talk to ghosts. Ben, Number 6, was dead.

“He’s always looking for new stuff to read,” Klaus continued nonchalantly. “Honestly, it’s like I don’t keep him entertained enough or something.”

“Wait, so Ben’s here?” Vanya asked.

“Yeah,” Klaus sighed. “He hangs around. That is, if you don’t think I’m just a craaazy junkie.” He giggled.

Vanya frowned. “You can see ghosts Klaus. It’s not crazy that you can see Ben, even if you are a junkie.”

“Huh.” Klaus leaned back against the couch. “You’re the only one to say that.” He shook his head. “Well, anyways sista. Ben’s still waiting for his answer.”

Vanya absolutely knew that if Chris was around, he would call her a bleeding heart, but she didn’t care. “Where is he right now?”

Klaus gestured to a point over his shoulder.

“More specific, please?” Vanya shot Klaus a smile.

Klaus looked at her for a moment, then pushed himself off the couch with a grunt. “Oh, come on Ben,” he said over his shoulder. Klaus’s head turned, tracking something (or somebody) Vanya couldn’t see, then he spread his arms wide with a grin. “Right in front of me,” he grinned at Vanya, peering around nothing.

“And how tall is he, compared to you?”

“Little bit…” Klaus gestured in front of his head, indicating Ben was maybe half a head shorter.

Vanya nodded, then focused at the point she thought Ben’s eyes would be.

“Hi Ben. I would shake your hand and properly introduce myself and all if I could, but as you’ve probably heard I’m your “long lost”,” she added air quotes, “sister Vanya Hernandez. Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m afraid I’m not much of a reader myself. As a good sister though, it’s my duty to recommend anything my brother wrote. Chris Hernandez, I don’t know if you’ve read any of his stuff before, but I highly recommend it. As both a sister and a reader,” she added with a laugh.

“Other than that, I’m afraid I’m not much help. If you’d like though, maybe I could bring Chris around sometime? He has a great long list of books he loves and adores and I’m sure he wouldn’t mind sharing.” She hesitated then, her eyes flicking back to Klaus.

Klaus was smiling, his eyes misty as he presumably stared at Ben. “Yeah,” he said, looking at Vanya. “Yeah, he says he’d like that a lot.”

Vanya looked back at her Ben Reference Point. “Then I’ll drag his ass out here as soon as he gets his stuff back to his editor,” she promised. “Don’t want you to get too bored, running after Klaus.”

Klaus made a noise of indignation, a hand over his heart.

Vanya grinned, checking her watch. “Oh shit, I have to run. I have a violin lesson at 4 and it’s a new student so I _don’t _want to be late. It was nice talking to you, Klaus, Ben.” She shot the two a smile. “See you around.”

Klaus waved at her as she turned and practically ran out of the Academy. No more Hargreeves siblings would stop her now, rudeness be damned. She would not be _late_.

Vanya closed the door behind Leonard, thinking. Don’t get her wrong, he was _definitely _a bit of an oddball, spilling deep life stories to somebody he’d known for just about an hour. But as far as Vanya could tell, his heart was relatively in the right place, and he was that combination of awkward and friendly that came across as just a little bit endearing.

Vanya turned his offer over in his mind. She had turned him down… but there was nothing saying she couldn’t change her mind. And as long as Chris continued being his procrastinating self, she would bet that after rehearsal she would have some free time she could wander around town… And let’s be real, a slightly odd woodworker was not the craziest type of person she’d met in the past 24 hours. What could go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And I would apologize but that just ain't my style and also I distinctly remember thinking Vanya and Leonard were cute until I realized he was being a bastard so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
Also my chapters just keep getting longer oop  



	6. 6 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lemme just say I'm real proud of how I accidentally managed to match up Chapter 6 and 6 Days Until the Apocalypse  
And here we have another episode of "I don't know how the layout of this place is therefore it is completely at the whim of me and the plot"

Vanya woke up at 4 am to the sound of her phone ringing. Only two people would call at 4 am, and one of them had a young child so she was _probably _out of the question. So Vanya felt justified answering the phone with the phrase, “Christopher Alonso Hernandez I swear to fuck you’d better have a good reason for waking me up at four in the goddamned morning.”

“Take me the fuck out sister,” Chris groaned.

Vanya snickered. “If you mean for fun and drinks, get your damn book to Eric,” she responded. “If you mean in a sniper way, no.”

“Go fuck yourself V. I have the completed fucking draft right,” Vanya heard a thump over the line, “fucking here.”

“Get it to Eric.”

“It’s four in the goddamned morning!”

“Oh now you notice,” Vanya snarked.

“And if I pass out now I won’t wake up until sometime tomorrow afternoon.”

“And as long as it’s before six Eric will still be in his office,” Vanya responded. “Get some sleep Chris. I’ll take you out tomorrow night, okay?”

“But I wanna get plastered nowwwww.”

“Sleep you asshole.”

“Bitch.”

“Oh hey Chris.” Vanya remembered something. “Wanna share your book list with someone?”

“Right fucking now?”

“Bitch what the fuck. I mean tomorrow once you get your draft to Eric.”

“Oh. Sure why not? Who was asking you for book recommendations?”

“A Hargreeves kid,” Vanya said vaguely. “I recommended your stuff, don’t worry, and then I said you’d have more suggestions.”

“Sure,” Chris yawned. “Why not interact with that brand of crazy some more.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Nah. Bitch I love sharing my book list with people even if they are some crazy-ass superheroes.”

“Dope. Go sleep. I’ll call you before rehearsal and maybe stop by if I have the time to wake you up in the afternoon, cool?”

“Dope. Night V.”

“Night you fuck.” Vanya hung up and immediately collapsed back into bed.

It took many calls and many, _many _promises of celebratory alcohol, but Vanya finally kicked Chris’s ass out of bed and down to Eric’s office to hand in his book draft.

The only plus side about Chris’s laziness was that Vanya had the chance to wander down to Bricktown to check out Leonard’s shop. She and Leonard had been able to have a nice chat while Leonard showed off his restoration work and his own carvings. The carving of herself nagged at Vanya a little bit, that whole feeling of _a little too familiar a little too fast_, but ultimately it was mostly harmless, and he had a damn good eye for detail.

Leonard had invited Vanya to dinner, but Chris’s impeccable older brother timing had him showing up at that moment for their “promised night of alcohol and not fucking _thinking_,” plus dinner was just a little too fast for Vanya, but she was willing to promise drinks for another night as she and Chris left for the Umbrella Academy.

“That guy was getting cozy,” Chris muttered to Vanya as they turned the corner.

“Oh lay off Chris, he might have a little issue with boundaries, but I’m not gonna let him walk all over me,” Vanya rolled her eyes. “And I know if he upsets me I can sic you on him.”

Chris bared his teeth in a feral grin. “Hell yeah.”

It didn’t take long for the two to reach the Umbrella Academy, where Pogo let them in, and they began their search of the maze for Klaus, and by association Ben.

And of course, that was where it all went to fucking _hell_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because as I was writing Vanya's and Chris's intro convo, looking at all their cursing, I'm like "Well Vanya just got woken up, and Chris is running on a solid 3 hours of sleep over the past 2 days, a metric fuckton of Redbull, and probably some vodka" and I thought that was a thought that should be shared


	7. 6 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 2

The second they heard gunshots, Vanya shoved at Chris. “Hide,” she hissed.

“What, no!” Chris grabbed at her arm. “There’s no fucking way I’m gonna let you go investigate gunfire _alone _you crazy bitch!”

“I’m the one with superpowers, now get your ass hidden so they don’t find you!” Vanya retorted. “I can hold my own Chris!”

Chris was obviously fighting his protective older brother instincts, but he nodded and ducked into the nearest doorway to find a place to hide.

Certain that Chris would be alright, Vanya started retracing her steps back to the foyer.

As she descended the staircase, she called out, “Hey, is everybody alright?” She had no idea who was in the house, or who was doing the shooting.

“Allison?” Hearing no reply, she started into the living room to investigate. “Klaus?”

Vanya heard a rustle behind her, and she turned to see a man towering over her, only a little smaller than Luther and wearing a cartoon bear mask. Vanya ducked as he swung at her with a flail, but wasn’t fast enough to avoid his next blow that sent her crashing into a table.

“Hey asshole.”

The Bear-Man turned away from Vanya, and Vanya peered around him to see Luther standing in the foyer. The action made Vanya’s head spin, and she let her head drop with a little groan as the Bear-Man turned to Luther and swung the flail. Vanya knew she couldn’t stay there though, and slowly made the effort to stand up.

“Get out of here!” Luther yelled, probably at her as he fought the Bear-Man.

Vanya stood and stumbled over to a nook next to the entrance to the living room, practically invisible from most angles. She tried to focus, fingers fumbling with the tuning fork in her pocket, but she had to admit to herself that she would have no control over her powers like this. Instead, she listened as Luther and the Bear-Man fought, unsure of who was winning.

Finally silence fell and footsteps echoed over to the living room, but Vanya didn’t move. She didn’t want to give herself away if it was the Bear-Man.

And her uncertainties were proven correct, as the figure paused in the doorway, then walked away. Fuck.

Vanya carefully pushed herself out of her hiding spot to see Luther lying in the middle of the foyer.

“Luther!” Allison yelled, running over to Luther with the knife man from the other day. Having met (or at least talked to the ghost of) the other five members of the Umbrella Academy, Vanya could only assume this was Diego, Number 2.

Their voices blurred in the back of her mind as they lifted him from the floor, overpowered by the ringing in her ears as Luther looked at a point on the balcony above her. Taking a few steps back and to the side, Vanya could see another suited figure, this one in a pink dog mask as they stabbed something in the wall and the chandelier fell.

“Get out of the way!” Luther yelled, shoving Allison and Diego to the side as he stood under the falling chandelier.

“No!” Vanya screamed, but she wasn’t fast enough as the chandelier crashed into Luther. She immediately picked it up with her powers, but recognized she was barely in control. She focused what little control she had left into throwing the chandelier at the retreating figure of the Dog-Man before collapsing to her knees and wresting her powers back into dormancy.

Finally, back under control, she looked up just in time to see Luther run up the stairs, shirtless and—wow Vanya was either really concussed and seeing things or Luther had the body of a _monkey_.

Chris appeared at the top of the stairs moments later. “Okay, fuck your noise V, I’m not sitting pretty,” he yelled, surveying the foyer.

Allison and Diego just stared at him, while Vanya coughed and called. “Over here Chris.”

Chris looked around, barely saw Vanya through the doors, and his eyes widened. “_Fuck _V.”

“Hey Chris,” Vanya mumbled as Chris knelt by her side. “’M I really fuckin concussed or is Luther a fuckin monkey?”

“No, you’re not seeing things,” Chris murmured, surveying her head. “I saw it too.”

“Get her on a chair,” Allison said, passing by them. “I’ll turn some lights on.”

Chris helped Vanya to the nearest couch, though Vanya shook off his hold very quick.

“I’m feeling better,” she argued.

“You were worried about being concussed,” Chris shot back.

“Wondering if I was seeing things,” Vanya retorted, leaning back and closing her eyes.

“What happened?” Chris asked lowly.

“Got surprised and smacked into a table,” Vanya replied, just as quiet. “Used my powers when I probably shouldn’t have. Really bad backlash trying to get them back under control.”

“Shit V.”

Allison returned with a damp washcloth, and Chris accepted it with a word of thanks.

“Who were those people?” Vanya asked Allison as Chris mothered her.

“I don’t know,” Allison admitted, perching on the coffee table in front of them. “But we are lucky to be alive.” 

Diego returned then, pacing anxiously.

Allison looked at him, concerned. “Diego?”

Diego paused, looking at Vanya and Chris. “What are they doing here?” he asked Allison.

“Looking for Klaus,” Chris admitted.

Vanya felt irritation rise. “I was just trying to help.”

“No, you two could have gotten killed,” Diego snapped. “Or you could have gotten one of us killed.” He turned to Allison. “They’re a liability.”

Allison sighed as Diego turned away. Chris carefully watched the two former superheroes, keeping a hand on Vanya’s arm.

“I think what he’s trying to say,” Allison finally said, “is that this type of stuff is dangerous. And you two are just…”

“Ordinary?” The word stung. Chris and Ava were powerless, but they could kick ass better than anybody Vanya knew. And it hurt because Vanya hadn’t realized until now how much she had wanted some sort of acceptance from the Academy kids, acknowledgement that she was somewhat like them. Pogo obviously hadn’t told them about her powers. And Vanya didn’t see any need to, as Allison hesitated, a silent _yes_ in her face.

Chris was either following her thought process or came to the same conclusion as Vanya at the same time, because he stood and offered assistance to Vanya. “Well then we’ll get out of your hair.” Chris’s voice was sickeningly sweet. “Wouldn’t want to be a _liability_.” He sneered the last word at Diego, who rolled his eyes.

“Let Klaus know we’re looking for him though,” Chris added. “You have a card on you V?”

“Allison has one,” Vanya said as she stood on her own, thank you very much Chris.

“Well then.” Chris grinned at the two, all sweetness and venom. “See you around. Maybe. If it’s not too much of a _liability_.”

“Vanya, wait,” Allison said, standing.

But Vanya just waved and followed Chris out of the house as Diego’s voice echoed behind them. “Let them go Allison.”

“What a prick,” Chris muttered. He sighed, looking at Vanya. “Let me get you to your apartment building at least. We’ll go out for drinks another night.”

“Okay,” Vanya agreed, knowing it was best to allow Chris the minimum mothering after the evening they’d had.

Vanya realized a half second too late that her apartment door was unlocked when it shouldn’t be, but she only had time to reach into her pocket before the door was open and somebody tackled her with a cry of “Aunty V!”

“Surprise.” Ava smirked from Vanya’s couch, but the smile quickly dropped from her face. “Shit V, what the hell happened to you?”

“Language,” Vanya laughed, picking up the little projectile and closing the door behind them. “I will not have you corrupting my poor goddaughter.”

“Aunty V!”

“Yes, hello there Annalise,” Vanya poked the little girl in the nose. “And how are you?”

“Twirl!” Annalise demanded.

Vanya complied, closing her eyes against the resulting vertigo. Yeah, that wasn’t good.

“Anna honey, remember our deal,” Ava reminded her.

“Just a few more minutes?” Annalise begged, leaning to look at her mother.

“How about this little lady,” Vanya offered. “I’ll put you to bed and you can tell me a quick story.”

Annalise looked at Ava, who nodded her consent.

Luckily, the little girl was already in her pjs and seemed to be having difficulty keeping her eyes open, so putting her to bed was a relatively quick and painless task, and soon Vanya rejoined Ava in the living room. Ava had already bust out the first aid kit, and shoved Vanya down on the couch to tend to her.

“What the hell happened?” Ava demanded.

“It’s a long story,” Vanya said.

Ava paused in her ministering to go pour Vanya a drink, then shoved it in her hand. “We have all night babe,” she grinned. “And the kiddo is well on the way to dream land.”

“Sheer determination keeping her up for me?”

“Oh you know it babe.” Ava winked. “Now spill your tale girl. From the very beginning please.”

Vanya sighed, took a sip of her drink, and started to tell Ava about the crazy past two days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And instead of seeking comfort in a man she barely knows, Vanya gets to mutually bitch with Chris and ramble on with her best friend :)


	8. 5 Days Until the Apocalypse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ya know, Ava was never meant to be more than a mentioned-in-passing character... oops I love her

Vanya hated that she was getting more and more uncomfortable vibes from Leonard, as she happened to run into him before rehearsal. Nothing about their conversation was _off_, per se, but just the fact that he happened to be in a place presumably far out of his way, where Vanya just _happened _to be passing by.

Luckily, she didn’t run into him on her way home afterwards and didn’t have to add another tick to the uncomfortable tally, but that silver lining was quickly overshadowed by a realization as Vanya reached her apartment building. She had lost her keys. Luckily, Ava was still around and could let her in, but Vanya could have sworn she had grabbed them this morning and zipped them in her pocket as usual. But her pocket was open and empty.

Vanya knocked on her door and tried the handle. It was unlocked.

“Hey babe,” Ava greeted, sitting on Vanya’s table overlooking Annalise playing, twirling Vanya’s keys on her finger.

Vanya blinked. “Why do you have my keys?”

“Oh, your _friend _brought them by earlier.” Ava’s voice was fake-casual, obviously not wanting to upset her daughter.

“Oh?” Vanya carefully closed the door behind her and set about hanging up her coat and violin, navigating around Annalise who had decided to attack her.

Ava nodded, catching Vanya’s keys. “I have something I want to show you V.”

“I wanna see!” Annalise exclaimed.

“No honey, it’s just for your Aunty V,” Ava said.

“But I wanna see!”

“Your momma’s right Anna,” Vanya said, herding the child back to her toys. “It’s probably something really grown-up and boring.”

Annalise pouted, giving Vanya puppy dog eyes.

“I promise if it’s really cool I’ll let you see,” Vanya whispered conspiratorially to her.

“You promise?”

“Pinkie promise.”

“Okay!”

Vanya straightened up and looked at Ava, who hopped off the table and lead Vanya into her bedroom.

Tied up on a chair stolen from the dining room and gagged was Leonard, whose expression brightened as he saw Vanya.

“I caught him breaking in with your keys,” Ava explained, disgust twisting in her features. “Don’t think he expected me to be around.”

Vanya sighed heavily. Jesus fucking Christ Leonard, couldn’t you have just stayed on the side of being only a tiny bit too much? She ungagged him. “Stay quiet,” she warned. “I don’t want my goddaughter getting curious why there’s a man tied up in my bedroom.”

“Oh thank goodness you’re here Vanya,” Leonard said.

“Why the fuck were you breaking into my apartment?”

“After you went into rehearsal, I noticed you dropped your keys, but I couldn’t find you in the building so I figured I would just return them to your place. But this woman didn’t believe me when I said that, and she tied me up here.”

Vanya sighed. “Of course she would, you’re fucking lying.”

“Vanya, I swear I’m not!”

Ava glanced at Vanya, who nodded. She loved being a dramatic bitch.

“You see Leonard,” Ava explained, “Vanya is incredibly paranoid at times. So whenever she goes out, she always puts her keys in a pocket that can be closed, and then _closes it_ so there’s no way for her keys to fall out. So if you found her keys, she didn’t drop them. She was _pickpocketed._”

Leonard was pale.

“So the truth now, Leonard,” Vanya smiled humorlessly. “Why did you steal my keys and break into my apartment?”

“I—uh, I was thinking it might be a nice surprise if I cooked dinner for you to come home to.”

Vanya took a step back and breathed deeply. “Leonard. I don’t think I have the words to say how _creepy _that is, since we’ve known each other for maybe _three days_ and I’ve only agreed to maybe have drinks with you.”

“And you’re lying again,” Ava cut in.

Vanya turned to her, and she continued. “It took me a hot second to realize it _wasn’t _you nabbing something you forgot for rehearsal, and when I went and confronted him, he had this in his pocket.” Ava shook a familiar pill bottle. Vanya’s medication, still full from the last time her parents had refilled it as Vanya hadn’t taken it in years. “Which he still refuses to tell me why.”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Leonard snapped at Ava.

“But you owe me an explanation,” Vanya said.

Leonard stayed stubbornly silent.

Vanya huffed. “Fine then. If that’s how you want to play. I’m going to give you one last chance that I probably shouldn’t give you.” Ava sighed behind her, but Vanya continued anyways. “There’s only two places I want to see you Leonard. At your lessons, or if I stop by your shop. If you _just so happen _go be going out of your way to the theater, if you try and break into my apartment again to surprise me, anything of the sort, we’re done. You’ll have to find a new violin teacher. Understood?”

Leonard sulked.

“I asked if you understand,” Vanya said forcefully.

“Vanya, I—”

“Yes or no Leonard,” Vanya interrupted. “Or an explanation on why you’re really here.”

“Yes, I understand,” Leonard finally mumbled.

“Good.” Vanya turned to Ava. “I’ll distract Anna and you sneak him out?”

“You sure we should let him go?” Ava asked skeptically.

“Well we don’t want to have any altercations with the law in case somebody notices him missing, do we?” Vanya replied.

“Oh fine,” Ava huffed. “I’ll sneak the bastard out.”

Vanya nodded, then left the bedroom as Ava started to untie Leonard with hissed threats.

“What was it Aunty V, what was it?” Annalise jumped to her feet and bounced around Vanya.

“So. Dreadfully. Boring.” Vanya collapsed to her knees in front of Annalise, then fell onto her side, snagging the girl as she went and pulling her down.

“Aunty V!” Annalise giggled, but she was fully _not _paying attention as Ava and Leonard snuck past.

“I can see the light,” Vanya said dramatically, holding out a hand.

Leonard hesitated, and Ava shoved him out the door with a scowl.

Annalise giggled, but turned at the sound of the door closing. “Mommy?”

“Thought I heard Mrs. Kowalski looking for Mr. Puddles again,” Ava lied smoothly, joining the two on the floor.

“Poor Mr. Puddles,” Vanya sighed.

“Poor Mr. Puddles,” Annalise agreed.

“So, how does watching cheesy movies until bedtime sound?” Ava asked, poking Annalise.

“Oh oh I wanna pick!”

“I’m game,” Vanya said, sitting up as Annalise bounced off of her.

“Prepared for princess movies?” Ava asked with a wry grin.

“After the last few days I’ve had?” Vanya replied. “_Yes_.”

This was just what she needed. An afternoon with Ava and her goddaughter, then drinks with Chris and Ava once Annalise was in bed.

Annalise was long on the way to dreamland, and Ava and Vanya were just waiting on Chris when Vanya’s phone rang.

Vanya prayed it wasn’t Leonard as she picked up. It wasn’t.

“Hey.” Allison sounded almost unsure of herself. “Look, first off I just wanted to apologize for yesterday. Diego just found our mom dead but I _know _that doesn’t excuse his behavior because he was way out of line and—”

“Allison,” Vanya cut her off. She knew Ava was listening in now, because Ava had paused in checking her purse. “I guess—I know where he’s coming from, but at the same time he’s just so _wrong_. Chris and I may be powerless,” At this, Ava shot Vanya a confused look, “but that doesn’t mean he’s utterly useless in a fight, or a _liability _as Diego said.”

“I’m sorry,” Allison murmured.

“And I could have helped if I hadn’t been caught by surprise,” Vanya added, softer now. “So do you get where we’re coming from?”

“Yeah,” Allison replied. “I’m sorry. He misjudged you. We _all _misjudged you.”

“I suppose you did,” Vanya sighed. _Including dear old father no. 1, Sir Reginald Hargreeves, _she added silently.

“Look, Vanya, can I try to make it up to you? Take you out for drinks tonight? You can tell me all about you and your brother so I’ll know what to expect from you two.”

“I would say yes,” Vanya started, “except I promised to take Chris out last night, which got pushed to tonight due to last night’s fiasco.” She had a thought. “Hold on a sec,” she told Allison, then covered the mouthpiece. “Hey do you think Chris would mind if I invited Allison along tonight?”

“Oh he would but it would be funny as hell to see his reaction so do it,” was Ava’s response.

Vanya snorted. “But would you like to come with?” she said into the receiver. “Have the full experience of Chris Hernandez celebrating finishing a book?”

“Sounds interesting. You’re sure he won’t mind?”

“Oh he might but my best friend is encouraging me to do it and she’s like 85% of my impulse control when she’s around so we think it’ll be funny if nothing else.”

“Well then,” Allison chuckled. “Where should I meet you three at?”

“Since Chris is almost here, it’ll probably be faster if you meet us at the bar. Do you know where the Royal Bar is?”

“The name sounds familiar but I can’t quite remember,” Allison admitted.

Vanya rattled off the address by memory. She and Chris had been going there for forever, even before Vanya or Chris himself had been legal.

“Alright, I’ll meet you there,” Allison said.

“See ya there,” Vanya replied, then hung up.

Ava grinned evilly. “Oh Chris is gonna be pissed,” she cackled. Ava enjoyed getting under Chris’s skin and riling him up, while Vanya would sit back and spectate and occasionally damage control.

“Maybe so,” Vanya said. “But let’s be real, he’ll be drunk soon enough.”

“Fair enough,” Ava conceded.

And despite her lurking worries about the evening, Vanya truly _appreciated _how Allison was making an effort to be inclusive to Vanya. At least, more than ¾ of the living Hargreeves brothers, since Vanya had seen neither hide nor hair of Five since she had tracked him down two days ago.

At the very least, tonight would be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And in other news, Leonard is moving at the speed of show Leonard, while Vanya is decidedly not  
And hell yeah managing to wrangle in that fun sister talk in while also delivering the promised Chris getting drunk as a skunk (which I won't be writing oop sorry if you were looking forward to reading that)  
And in other actual news, part of the reason this took so long is that I got inspiration to finish the first chapter of another thing I'm working on. And then I discovered you can post original works to AO3 so now I'm in heaven and if y'all wanna check that thing out it's called Coming Home (and warning but boy is it sad at times)


	9. 4 Days Until the Apocalypse

Vanya hung up her phone with a heavy sigh. “Well shit,” she murmured.

“Who’s the bad influence now?” Ava teased, knowing Annalise was in no way paying attention. “What’s up V?”

“You remember Helen Cho, right?” Vanya asked. “First violin in my orchestra.”

“Ah, the Bitch Who Won’t Be Dethroned,” Ava nodded.

“Oh, you’re one to lecture me about language,” Vanya retorted with a grin that quickly faded. “Yeah, apparently she hasn’t been showing up to rehearsals, and since the concert is in like four days they’re holding auditions for first chair just in case.”

“That’s weird,” Ava frowned. “I mean, not the whole audition bit, I get that.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Vanya agreed. “Helen’s been so damn passionate about this orchestra that I haven’t been able to unseat her in five years. And you _know _I’ve tried.”

“So why’d she stop showing up?” Ava mused.

“I can only fear the worst,” Vanya admitted. “Nothing would stop her from rehearsal unless she was physically unable to make it.”

“Well,” Ava grinned. “Go get that first chair babe, and if/when the Bitch comes back, you can pity her and/or laugh in her face that you finally got first chair.”

“Oh you’re horrible,” Vanya sighed, but set about gathering her things. Just because she had been at Helen’s heels for first chair these past five years didn’t mean that she didn’t need to practice the solo for the concert before she auditioned. And with Annalise and Ava around, practice would only happen in the concert hall’s practice rooms.

On her way home from her audition, Vanya swung by Leonard’s shop. It was open this time and sparsely populated.

Leonard looked up as the bell jingled, and his expression lit up as he caught sight of Vanya. He quickly finished up with his customer, then made his way over to Vanya.

“Vanya! What brings you here today?”

“I wanted to talk to you Leonard,” Vanya said. “Alone, preferably.”

“I can’t leave the shop, but we can go into the back if that’s alright.”

Vanya nodded and followed Leonard behind the curtain that separated his restoration work from his carvings.

“Now what can I do for you?” Leonard smiled at Vanya.

“I’m giving you another chance.”

Leonard’s face brightened.

“To explain what the hell you were doing in my apartment yesterday.”

His expression fell. Vanya waited with her arms crossed.

“I already told you Vanya—”

“No you didn’t.” Vanya cut off his poor excuse. “Why the hell were you rifling through my meds?”

Leonard smiled, but it appeared almost forced. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but if you think I’m lying then I have no more explanations to give.”

Vanya sighed. This had been a waste of time.

“What’s up with the violin?” Leonard asked as she turned to leave. “I thought you didn’t have rehearsal today?”

Vanya paused. “I was just practicing,” she lied. “For the concert in a few days.”

“Oh,” Leonard said. “You know, I heard there were auditions today for first chair in your orchestra. Since the former first chair, Helen, did you say her name was? Stopped showing up.”

“Where’d you hear that?” Vanya turned back to Leonard.

He shrugged. “Oh, here and there. I’m bad at keeping track of where I hear my gossip,” he added with a chuckle.

Vanya smiled tightly. “Well you should probably keep better track,” she replied, “since the inner affairs of the orchestra aren’t really any of your business.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Leonard said.

As Vanya left his shop, she couldn’t help the nagging feeling that somehow Leonard was involved in Helen’s disappearance. But why? What did he have to gain if Helen was gone?

“So? How’d it go?” Ava asked as Vanya entered her apartment.

“Well, I got the part,” Vanya said as she hung up her coat and fended off Annalise as per usual.

“Hell yeah!” Ava cheered.

“But bad news.”

“Oh?”

“I think you-know-who has something to do with it.”

Ava’s expression darkened. “Oh. We’ll talk later then.”

Vanya nodded as Annalise cocked her head in confusion. “Voldemort?” she asked.

Vanya and Ava exchanged a glance then dissolved into giggles.

“Okay bitches, I’m here.” Chris slid onto the seat next to Vanya, taking his drink from her with a nod of thanks. “Now what the fuck is up?”

Vanya quickly summarized the events Chris was unaware of; Helen Cho, first violin was missing; therefore, auditions were held for first chair; Vanya got the part; Leonard’s a suspicious prick who broke into her apartment.

Chris snorted at the last part. “Fuckin called it sis,” he muttered, taking a drink. “Now can I go after him? Nobody messes with my sister.”

Ava snorted. “You have no idea what you’re jumping into,” she said.

“Which is why,” Vanya cut in as Chris bristled, “I wanna ask you guys to investigate the situation.”

“Oh?” Ava raised an eyebrow.

“See what dirt you can find on him,” Vanya clarified. “See if there’s any reason why he might kidnap Helen, or want somebody else, specifically me, to be first violin. And yes, this is my permission to do what you have to,” she added as Ava looked about to say something, “including breaking into his house, just _please _don’t get caught or in any trouble with the law.”

“Babe, trouble is my middle name.” Ava grinned.

“No, it’s Zephyr,” Vanya sighed, though she was smiling.

“Well it is mine.” Chris smirked.

“Yours is Alonso asshole. Now can you two work together?”

Chris eyed up Ava. “Mystery gang?”

“Mystery-Protect V gang,” Ava amended.

Chris nodded. “Eric hasn’t gotten my draft back to me for revisions yet. Tomorrow good?”

“I need to drop the monkey off at her dad’s, so that’ll take all morning,” Ava sighed. “But meet me about noon at the Argyle Library? We can see what records they have there on this prick.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Chris bared his teeth in a feral grin.

“No bloodshed without my consent beforehand,” Vanya warned. “And for fuck’s sake, I’d better not have to bail your asses out of jail _again_.”

Ava and Chris just gave her innocent smiles that Vanya could see _right _through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally had the idea of Vanya is very uncomfortable with Leonard and therefore Chris quietly _takes care_ of Leonard, and this would be where it happens. But as I've previously stated, I have no idea where this is going and therefore the story is ever-changing until it's actually written, but where it's heading now.... ehehe :)


	10. 3 Days Until the Apocalypse: The Day That Wasn't

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wasn't planning on writing a Day That Wasn't chapter, but... hey who plans out their stories before writing! (hint: not me most of the time lol)

Vanya took a deep breath, then let herself into the Hargreeves mansion. This might be a really stupid idea. Maybe most of the Hargreeves wanted nothing to do with her. But Vanya was willing to at least give them the chance before slamming _that _door.

Vanya immediately could hear voices, and headed towards the source of the noise. The four adult-sized Hargreeves were gathered around the bar, arguing and talking over each other.

“Hey.”

They immediately stopped and turned to look.

Allison pushed herself off the bar. “Hey Vanya. What are you doing here?”

“Yeah, what is she doing here?” Diego muttered.

Vanya ignored him. “I wanted to talk to you and Klaus real quick.”

“Now’s not a good time,” Luther interrupted. “Family meeting.”

Allison shot him a withering look.

Vanya gave him a cold smile. “Real quick, I said.” She held out a flyer to Allison, who took it and glanced over it. “I have a concert in a few days,” Vanya explained. “First chair and all. Figured I should invite you, if you’d like to come. All of you, if you’d like,” she added, looking at the brothers.

“Yeah,” Allison said, starting to fold the flyer. “Yeah, I’ll be there if I can. Pressing family matters and all that,” she chuckled, “but I’ll try my best to make it.”

Klaus had wandered over while they talked, and he plucked the flyer from Allison’s fingers. “Oh hush, I was gonna say yes,” he whispered at somebody over his shoulder. Presumably Ben.

Vanya noticed he was far more sober than he had been last she’d seen him, not tripping over his own feet as much. “Hey Klaus,” Vanya added. “Let me know when’s a good time to get you that book list. Allison has my number and address.”

“_Danke_.” Klaus gave her a weak salute before stumbling over to a couch.

Vanya winced. She recognized the symptoms of withdrawal, but there was nothing she could do to help him. Diego was pointedly ignoring her, and Luther was glaring at her like she was long overstaying her welcome, and Vanya didn’t want to try and fight two superpowered siblings if they decided they needed to force her to leave.

“That’s all.” Vanya smiled at Allison and Klaus. “Hope to see you guys there. See ya.” And with a wave, Vanya turned at let herself out of the house.

As she turned to head back to her apartment, Vanya found herself being dragged into a dark alleyway. She reached for her tuning fork out of habit, but the ringing in her ears was enough to jumpstart her powers. Before she could activate them though, her assailant hit her over the head, and Vanya knew no more.

While Ava waited for Chris to meet her at the library (chronically late, that Chris Hernandez), she looked up everything she could find about Leonard Peabody, which was essentially nothing. There was one newspaper article, then… nothing. No other records. Not even a birth announcement. It was like the guy hadn’t existed before a few years ago.

Ava took the time to call Vanya to update her, but the call went to voicemail. Ava frowned. Vanya had been going to visit the Academy that morning when Ava left with Annalise, but unless the Hargreeves siblings had held her up, she should be home by now. Ava left Vanya a message detailing the lack of what she had found, then hung up the phone.

“Why the long face?”

Ava scowled and elbowed him in the gut.

“Jesus fuck woman!” Chris coughed. “I’m just asking a fucking question!”

“You’re being a dick about it.”

Chris made a face. “Fine, I’m here now. Where do we begin?”

“We begin,” Ava shoved a piece of paper into his chest, “with the fact that I already did all our research.”

“Oh goodie. And?” Chris read the paper, and his face fell. “Seriously? That’s it?”

“Yup.” Ava popped the _p_.

“Well shit,” Chris muttered, thoroughly nonplussed. “This guy _has _to have a record. Why else would he pop up outta nowhere with a new identity?”

“You probably have a point,” Ava grudgingly admitted. “But we aren’t gonna find his criminal record without knowing who he really is.”

“And how do you suggest we find that out?” Chris asked.

Ava waved another scrap of paper in Chris’s face.

“You bitch.” Chris snatched it from her hands. “Fuck, this prick lives across the damn city.”

“Which makes his interest in V all the more suspicious,” Ava said. “Call a cab fucker, we got a creep to investigate.”

Vanya came to tied to a chair and gagged. Her head was throbbing with a headache, making accessing her powers dangerous and uncertain. Even if she had complete control, Vanya still wouldn’t want to risk cutting her way free because of the distinct possibility she might cut halfway through her own wrists and ankles. Vanya would have to find another way free.

Vanya gingerly opened her eyes to survey her surroundings. The room was small and rather cluttered, giving off a lived-in, almost homey feeling. Windows showed Vanya she was surrounded by trees, obviously far from the city. Somebody was in the other room, whistling a jaunty little tune and coming closer.

_Fuck_.

But the knots were secure, and all the tugging in the world couldn’t set Vanya free.

The door opened, revealing—_Leonard? _

“Hey Vanya,” Leonard said, as casually as if she had stopped by his shop. “Glad to see you’re awake.”

_You fucking asshole_.

“I’m sorry it had to come to this,” Leonard continued. “But I hope you’ll understand once I’m finished.”

_Chris and Ava were right not to trust you. I should have listened more. _

“The thing is Vanya, you’re more special than you know.” Leonard had a strange, almost fanatic look in his eyes. “And the truth is, your medicine is just hindering you.”

_I fucking found that out when I was eighteen! I don’t need you to tell me that you fucker. _

“So I’ll help you unlock your true power, alright Vanya?” Leonard said. “And then you can show them all when you go back and play that solo at your concert.”

_Oh my God. Where’s Helen? _

Leonard crouched down and ungagged Vanya. Vanya spat in his face.

Leonard stood, his face suddenly a blank mask. “You’ll come around Vanya.” And with that he turned and left.

Vanya closed her eyes again, wishing this _headache _would just fucking _go away_. She was alone with Leonard in a cabin in the woods, with very little chance Chris and Ava could find her.

She was on her own to escape.

Leonard had left his door unlocked like a complete weirdo just begging to be robbed. Chris and Ava made short work of starting the search for his true identity. And so far, they were turning up nothing.

“Hey Chris, I’m going up into the attic,” Ava called from the second floor.

“Alright,” Chris yelled back, going through Leonard’s mail. So he went through the trouble to get his name legally changed, at least in the mail services’ eyes. Dammit.

Chris was startled as he heard a scream from upstairs. “Fuck!” Chris dropped the mail and hightailed it upstairs. If something happened to Ava Vanya would have his _ass_.

Chris darted up the attic ladder to find Ava collapsed against a wall, shaking and panting. Chris followed her wide-eyed stare, and jumped. “Motherfucker!”

Laying on the floor, covered in a plastic sheet, was the dead body of Helen Cho.

“What the _fuck?_” Ava panted.

“This guy is seriously fucked up.” Chris helped Ava to her feet and pushed her in the direction of the ladder. It was too creepy to stay up here with a dead body.

Once they were out of the attic, Ava collapsed on the first stair. “Chris, I’m scared,” she admitted.

Ava Zephyr Robinson _never _admitted she was scared to Chris. Shit was serious.

“V is MIA and Leonard actually _murdered _Helen and she’s in his attic.”

Chris sat next to Ava. “And we have no idea who he really is.”

The two exchanged a glance. Vanya’s fate was in their hands.

And they had no clue how to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had the idea of Vanya getting kidnapped by Leonard planned since I posted Chapter 8, and reading the comments about how Leonard got off easy... I was cackling a bit to myself tbh lol  
Our dear V is definitely in a spot of trouble that even a time reset can't fix


	11. 3 Days Until the Apocalypse: The Day That Was

“Hey Chris, I’m going up into the attic,” Ava called, tugging a chair from a nearby room to reach the ring that would open the attic hatch.

“Alright,” Chris yelled back from downstairs.

As Ava’s fingers brushed the ring, there was a crash as somebody hurtled through the front door. Ava jumped down from the chair and hid around the corner before peeking around, trying to see who the intruder.

“Subtle.”

Ava frowned. That voice sounded familiar…

She got no more time to ponder it, because suddenly there was yelling downstairs, and Ava saw that Chris had attacked one of the three figures now downstairs. _Dammit _Chris! Ava ran downstairs to help him, because if something happened to him, Vanya would have her _ass_.

Ava managed to take one by surprise, knocking her down, then turned to the last one to realize he was a _kid_, and that woman was _way _too familiar. “Allison?” Ava turned to her.

“Ava, oh my god, Five no!”

Ava ducked, and a vase flew harmlessly over her head.

“Hey, stop it!” Allison scrambled to her feet. “Diego, cut it out!”

Ava yanked Chris away from Diego, while Allison held out a hand to stop Diego from continuing the fight.

“What are you doing here?” Allison demanded.

“Looking up an asshole that’s basically stalking V,” Ava panted, tossing her hair out of her eyes. “You?”

“Trying to stop the apocalypse.” Ava looked at the kid, who appeared deadly serious.

“Cool beans,” Chris said distractedly. “What the hell does Leonard have to do with that?”

“Leonard?” Allison frowned. “This is Harold Jenkins’s house.”

“Who the fuck is Harold Jenkins?” Chris asked.

Ava nudged him. “Does this Harold Jenkins happen to have a police record?” she asked.

Allison held out her hand to Diego, who growled. She insisted. He handed over a manila folder, which Allison then passed to Ava and Chris.

Ava whistled lowly. There was Leonard Peabody’s mugshot, next to the name Harold Jenkins. “You were right Chrissy,” Ava muttered, avoiding Chris’s jab. “The prick does have a record.”

“You know him?”

“Yeah, this is V’s stalker,” Chris replied, tossing Allison the folder. “Which begs the question, where is he? We swung by his store and it was closed, and he’s not here…”

“Hopefully not stalking V,” Ava sighed.

“Have you two already taken a look around?” Allison asked.

“For the most part,” Chris replied. “Haven’t found anything terribly suspicious. Looks like a lonely man with a penchant for wood carvings and shit like that.”

“Only place we didn’t get was the attic,” Ava continued. “I was just about to go up when you crashed in.”

Allison snickered, while Diego scowled. “Then let’s check out the attic, then we can plan our next move,” he growled, stomping upstairs.

“Inspiring leadership,” the kid muttered to Allison.

“One of the greats.”

“Seriously?” Diego asked, seeing the chair at the top of the stairs.

Ava, who had followed him closely, hopped up and snagged the ring to open the attic hatch. “Bite me,” she smiled, jumping down again.

“No, I draw the line at biting!” the kid yelled.

Diego scowled and made to make his way up the ladder, but Ava beat him to it, sending him another asshole smirk as she scurried into the attic.

As the others joined her, the three Hargreeves (at least, Ava was assuming the kid was one) immediately noticed the destroyed shrine to the Umbrella Academy. Ava let them discuss amongst themselves as she explored the rest of the attic, but she couldn’t help the shriek that was pulled from her as she disturbed a sheet of plastic on the floor.

“What? What’s happening?” Chris demanded, having just made it into the attic. He followed Ava’s gaze, and jumped about a foot off the ground. “Motherfucker!”

Laying on the floor, covered in a plastic sheet, was the dead body of Helen Cho.

“Huh,” the kid said, way too cavalier for the situation, right before he collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.

“Come on, come on, pick up,” Ava hissed, listening to the phone ring on and on.

“Hey, this is Vanya,” Vanya’s answering machine picked up.

“Fuck!” Ava slammed the receiver down.

Chris descended the stairs, obviously listening in.

“V is MIA.” Ava leaned against the staircase. “Helen Cho is dead. Leonard murdered her. And murdered his dad.” Ava sighed. “Chris, I’m scared.”

“He won’t kill her.” Chris sat on the stairs above her.

“How the hell do you know?”

“Because it doesn’t make sense. He kills Helen to give Vanya the chance to become first chair. And then he kidnaps V and kills her too? What does he gain from it?”

“What does he gain from V being first chair?” Ava shot back.

“I’m not sure,” Chris admitted. “But it doesn’t make sense that he spends all this time trying to sweet talk her only… to…” He trailed off.

Ava looked up. “Chris?”

“When I interrupted them at his shop, he was saying something about how she’s extraordinary to him,” Chris murmured. “Maybe… and then if she’d gone along with him, when she got first violin he’d butter her up some more, some more talk about how she’s special and he always knew it…”

“Where are you going with this Chris?”

“Do you think he knows?” Chris whispered.

Ava shook her head. “V hasn’t even told _them_,” she hissed.

“No but listen,” Chris retorted. “What if he thinks _she _doesn’t know. She thinks she’s ordinary. But he knows because at some point, he broke into the Academy and stole dear ol’ Daddy Hargreeves's training notes that Pogo _still _hasn’t been able to find?”

“Shit,” Ava muttered. “Would make sense why he was stealing her meds considering they were stopping her from using her powers. But why?”

“I don’t know.” Chris’s face was grim. “I mean, this is all just speculation, but…”

“It makes sense,” Ava finished.

“You guys coming?” Their conversation was interrupted by Diego and Allison coming down the stairs.

“Where are we going?” Chris stood and followed them down the stairs.

“There’s no other addresses in his file,” Diego said, “but there’s a relation. Jenkins’s grandmother. We’re gonna go check out her place.”

“Hell yeah we’re in,” Ava said. “We aren’t going to leave V alone with that psychopath for a second longer than we have to.”

“Let’s go then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Canon is mine to pick and choose what I please and I want Diego to be a part of the cabin scene so therefore by magical bullshit of I do what I want he ain't getting arrested lol


	12. 2 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a note but I read all the comments y'all make and lemme just say I love them and I love that y'all are having fun with this and thank you so much for making me giggle at y'alls reactions

Vanya woke the next morning stiff and aching from sleeping tied to a chair all night. She opened her eyes to see Leonard sitting across from her, watching her sleep.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Vanya yelped, the chair banging against the floorboards as she jumped.

“Good morning Vanya!” He was way too cheerful. Vanya was immediately uneasy with this. “I made breakfast!”

Vanya hated how her stomach betrayed how hungry she was, growling at the smell of pancakes and bacon.

“But first,” Leonard had held the food tantalizingly close, only to pull it away. “I want to do a little test, alright? Remember how I was telling you about unlocking your true potential yesterday?”

Vanya just glared at him.

“Can you focus on the sound of this tuning fork for me?” Leonard hit the tuning fork against the heel of his hand.

Vanya almost laughed at him. She could never go to a rock concert for fear of losing control, but she and Chris, and Ava once she’d found out, had trained Vanya almost maniacally so she could continue her violin performance major and play in an orchestra without losing control. Vanya was well used to clamping down on her powers in any sort of orchestra setting.

“Go to fucking hell,” she snarled at Leonard.

“Now Vanya, I’m just trying to help.” Leonard looked like a wounded puppy. The effect would have maybe worked if he didn’t have her tied up in a cabin in the woods.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Vanya said sarcastically. “Let me amend my previous statement. Burn in fucking hell you asshole.”

Leonard stood, his chair banging against the wall. “Well if you refuse to be civil then I might as well return the favor,” he retorted, gagging Vanya again before stalking out, taking breakfast with him.

Vanya’s stomach growled, and Vanya tugged yet again against her ropes. The door slammed, and Vanya heard a truck start up, then peel out of the driveway.

Fuck. She had to find a way _out_.

The quartet watched what had to be Harold Jenkins’s truck leave the driveway.

“Remind me again why we’re letting him get away?” Diego hissed.

“Because once we rescue V, we can ambush him when he inevitably comes back for her,” Ava retorted.

Allison barely held back rolling her eyes. Ava and Diego had been at each other’s throats basically the whole car ride here, and Allison was just about sick of it.

“If she’s even here,” Diego replied.

“And if she isn’t, we can still ambush him when he comes back,” Allison cut in. “Come on, while we still have a chance.”

Unfortunately, there was no cover approaching the cabin, and the gravel crunched loudly underfoot. Allison could only hope Harold Jenkins was working alone.

Vanya heard footsteps on the driveway outside. It wouldn’t be Leonard returning, would it? No, he had driven off, and Vanya couldn’t think why he’d come walking back so quickly.

As the footsteps drew nearer, Vanya could start to hear hushed voices. Oh shit, criminals?

“Motherfucker!” The curse was not as hushed as it should have been, and neither were the voices shushing him.

Vanya’s heart leapt into her throat. Chris? He was here? Vanya wanted to yell for her brother, but the gag in her mouth prevented that.

But there was one way she could contact him. She was still woozy and hungry, and this could turn south so quickly, but Vanya _needed _her brother.

Vanya closed her eyes and started to hum as she activated her powers.

The wind whipped around them, bringing the sound of somebody humming.

Allison couldn’t see the source, but next to them, Ava and Chris stilled, exchanging a glance. “V,” they breathed in unison. Ava looked near tears. Chris had an expression of relief.

“Wait, what?” Allison asked.

“V is here,” Ava said. “And she’s _alive_.” She let out a little laugh.

“I fucking told you,” Chris hissed at her, though he was smiling. “Come on, she has to be alone.” He broke into a run, Ava on his heels.

Allison and Diego exchanged a confused glance before following them.

Chris tried the door and swore. “Actually locked this time. What a prick.” He leaned over the lock.

“You know how to pick a lock?” Allison asked incredulously.

“How is that surprising?” Chris shot over his shoulder.

“You’re in such a rush, just kick it down,” Diego said, getting ready to do so.

“Nah.”

The door swung open, revealing a cluttered, almost cozy interior.

“V!” Ava dashed in, calling for Vanya. “V, where are you?”

It almost seemed like there was a breeze coming from one of the doors, and Ava immediately made a beeline for it. Allison was able to look over her shoulder as she opened the door.

There, tied to a chair in the middle of the room and gagged, was Vanya. Her hair whipped around her in an invisible breeze, and her half-closed eyes were white.

“What the…” Diego muttered, peering around Allison.

Ava and Chris wasted no time getting to Vanya.

“Vanya,” Ava murmured, crouching in front of Vanya, and Allison noted this was the first time she had heard Ava call Vanya by her full name. “We’re here babe.”

Vanya didn’t react. It was almost like she couldn’t hear her.

“Snap,” Chris ordered, working at cutting Vanya free.

Ava snapped her fingers next to Vanya’s ear. No reaction.

“Shit,” Chris cursed as most of the ropes fell away. “Cover your ears,” he told Allison and Diego, pulling something out of his pocket.

“What—”

“Do it!” Chris barked.

Allison knew better than to argue, knew how protective Chris was of Vanya, so she nudged Diego until he covered his ears and did so herself. Chris lit the fuse of the firecracker, then covered his own ears. The bang was loud enough in the enclosed space that Allison’s ears still hurt.

Vanya blinked, her eyes turning back to brown. “Chris?” she mumbled, before falling over in a faint, into Ava’s waiting arms.

“What the fuck was that about?” Diego demanded.

“We’ll explain when V tells us it’s okay,” Ava said as Chris cut the ropes around Vanya’s ankles.

“But she’s unconscious!”

“Then I guess you’ll just have to wait.” And Chris’s gaze brooked no argument.


	13. 2 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 2

Later in the day, Chris raided the pantry and decided to make grilled cheese, since “It’s all this prick has that I can make without burning this fucker to the ground.”

Maybe it was the smell of cooking food, or maybe it was Chris swearing loudly as he burned himself, but Vanya stirred with a groan.

“Chris?” she mumbled, her eyes barely open.

“Hey V.” Chris set down the first sandwich and hurried to Vanya’s side. “How you feeling?”

“Shit,” Vanya replied. “Hungry.”

Ava had grabbed the abandoned sandwich, and now handed it off to Chris. “Up for eating?”

“Yes.” Vanya rolled off the couch, causing Ava to yelp in panic, then sat up, leaning heavily against the couch. “Gimme.”

Chris laughed and handed it over, then returned to his task. Allison knew her brother, so when Diego opened his mouth, she elbowed him hard to tell him to _shut up_. Diego glared at her, but complied.

But as Vanya finished eating and leaned against Ava, Allison knew Diego wouldn’t be contained for long.

“Hey Vanya?”

“Hm?” Vanya blinked, obviously well on the way to zoning out and falling asleep again.

“Diego and I have a couple of questions.” Allison slid down from her chair to the floor, on Vanya’s level.

Vanya looked at Ava. “What happened?” she asked softly.

“To briefly summarize,” Ava responded, brushing back Vanya’s hair, “Chris and I ran into Allison, Diego, and Five when we were investigating Leonard’s house because they were _also _investigating the prick. So when Leonard couldn’t be found at his house or his shop, they had his police file,”

Vanya groaned at the statement.

“and we decided to check out his grandma’s place, aka here,” Ava finished up.

“And then when he left, as we were sneaking up to check out the place, we heard you,” Chris continued as he put a plate of sandwiches on the table. “So we figured you would be alone, and we came in and rescued you and all that jazz.” He took a place on the abandoned couch just above Vanya’s shoulder.

“But how did you know she would be alone?” Allison asked him.

“And what the fuck was that when we walked in?” Diego demanded.

Vanya exchanged a glance with Chris and Ava.

“Your secret,” Ava explained.

“Your choice to tell them,” Chris finished.

Vanya nodded, but as she started fumbling for her pocket, Ava grabbed her wrist.

“No way. You’re still way too weak to _show them_.”

“But it’s the easiest way to explain,” Vanya protested.

“_No_,” Chris and Ava said in unison.

Vanya pouted. “Fine.”

Before she could say another word though, they heard the telltale crunch of gravel as a car pulled up.

Chris was immediately on his feet. “Get V somewhere safer,” he ordered Ava.

“No, Chris, I can _help_—”

“You’re barely able to stand babe, how bout we save the heroism for another day, hm?” Ava murmured as she helped Vanya to her feet.

Allison and Diego also stood, ready to help Chris, but Chris waved them aside. “I’d like to take care of this bastard alone, if you don’t mind.”

Diego opened his mouth to argue, but Allison cut him off. “We’ll be here as backup if you need us.”

Chris nodded, his attention already on the door as the truck shut off.

Moments later, a door slammed, and footsteps crunched up to the door.

Chris was ready. As Leonard opened the door, Chris yanked him inside and punched him, first in the nose, then on the side of his head as he let go. Leonard fell to the ground, already down for the count.

“Huh,” Diego muttered. Allison’s surprise was clear on her face, and Chris figured that was his own way of saying he was too.

“Ava, seriously!” Chris turned to see Vanya struggling against Ava as she tried to herd Vanya into the other room. “It’s too late already, just let me stay.”

“V, come on,” Chris sighed, starting to plead with his sister, but the creak of a floorboard behind him tipped him off. He spun to see Leonard standing there unsteadily, a knife already on its way to Chris’s ribs with no time to dodge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scuse me while I don't apologize for the cliffhanger XD


	14. 2 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still will not apologize for that cliffhanger mwahaha  
But to give a lil explanation, I've been packing and getting shit ready to go and running around like a chicken with my head cut off since Wednesday, then in the span of 36 hours on Saturday and Sunday I drove a solid 800+ miles to get from home to school, and then another ~100 to my boyfriend's place. So I had most of the last chapter done by Saturday evening, and I could either cliffhanger it and give y'all a short chapter to chew on while I was driving, or a longer one that wouldn't come until today. And y'all can guess which option I chose lol  
But Merry Christmas in September bc this is like 2000 words lol. Good trade off? :)

“Shit!” Diego already had a knife on its way to hit Harold Jenkins, but it would be too late, and Chris couldn’t dodge, and Allison could only watch in horror as Vanya screamed “No!”—

And then Harold Jenkins was suddenly shoved away from Chris by some invisible force.

Chris stumbled to the ground, his half-hearted attempt to dodge cut short by the sudden lack of danger. “Vanya!” he scolded, turning to look at her.

Allison looked around and started. Vanya was standing there without Ava’s support.

Vanya, whose hair was whipping around her face in an invisible breeze. Vanya, whose eyes were white again. Vanya, who was _crying_.

“Let him go V.” Chris’s voice was gentle. He had obviously noticed her crying.

Vanya shook her head wordlessly.

“I’ve got him this time V, I promise,” Chris said, pulling lengths of rope out of his pocket. The rope, Allison realized, that had been used to tie Vanya up. She hadn’t even realized Chris had pocketed it.

There was a pause, then Harold Jenkins dropped to the floor, gasping for breath. Chris made short work of kicking the knife out of his reach and tying him up.

“And there we have it,” he said, aiming a kick for Jenkins’s ribs for good measure. “You can cut your powers V.”

Vanya hesitated.

“He’s all tied up babe,” Ava murmured.

“And I won’t take my eyes off him again,” Chris promised.

Vanya nodded, then her eyes turned back to brown, and she collapsed. Ava caught her and lowered her to the floor.

“What the hell are all of you doing here?” Jenkins spat, blood bubbling at the corner of his lips.

Chris crouched in front of him, his smile cold and empty. “You messed with the wrong sister, bitch,” he snarled. “Now mind telling us exactly _why _you thought it would be a good idea to kidnap my sister and hold her hostage here?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything,” Jenkins snapped.

“Not again.” Ava rolled her eyes. “Really Leonard, haven’t you realized you really don’t have _any _power here?”

“If you don’t wanna answer that, mind telling us why there was that creepy shrine thing in your attic?” Diego cut in.

Jenkins started.

“Yeah, we know all about that. So?”

“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Jenkins repeated stubbornly.

“Shit!” Chris stood abruptly and turned away from Jenkins. “You stubborn motherfucker!”

“Allison?” Diego turned to her, and Allison knew what he was asking.

“I can’t,” she said. “I promised myself—after Patrick—”

“I think,” Diego cut her off, “that there’s a difference between using your power for your own gain, and using it to stop the fucking apocalypse.”

Allison sighed. He had a point.

She crouched in front of Jenkins, who started thrashing.

“I’m not listening to you!” he said desperately.

“I heard a rumor.” Allison had made up her mind, and his whining wouldn’t change it. “That you answered all of our questions truthfully.”

Jenkins’s eyes glazed over as Allison’s powers took hold, and she stood and backed away, leaving the proper interrogation to Chris and Diego.

With a glance at her, Chris took the reins. “What the hell do you want with Vanya?”

“I wanted to use her powers to get back at the Umbrella Academy.” He may have been forced to tell the truth, but Jenkins did _not _look happy about it, glaring at Chris.

“Why?” Diego asked.

“Because I was born on the same day as you bastards,” Jenkins muttered. “But when I asked to join the Academy Hargreeves threw me out without even hearing me out.”

“Sounds like dear ol’ Dad,” Diego muttered.

Allison frowned. “I think I remember that,” she said. “You were dressed up like us, and you grabbed me…” She shuddered at the memory. Despite everything their father had done to keep all the crowds away, there had still been far too many who had ignored all that and had tried to touch or even grab the Hargreeves kids. Especially Allison.

“So you decided the best revenge against Daddy Hargreeves was against his kids?”

Diego and Allison cringed at how Chris referred to their father, but Jenkins just laughed.

“He said I would never have power,” he chuckled. “So I decided to prove him wrong.”

“Okay. Explain how this _grand master plan _was supposed to work.”

“First, of course, was getting rid of my shitty father,” Jenkins growled.

“So you murdered him,” Diego said.

“Yes. How did you know that?”

“We’re the ones asking the questions Leonard,” Ava reminded him.

“And then you did twelve years for his murder,” Diego continued. “And then when you got out?”

“By the time I got out, the Academy was in shambles,” Jenkins explained. “But I mainly wanted revenge on Hargreeves. So I bided my time, looking for some sort of opportunity to do so, while building up my new identity.”

“And then Dad died,” Allison said.

“And I could still show my power to the Academy kids who laughed at me as their father humiliated me that day,” Jenkins snarled. “But it turns out that Hargreeves's death was actually a blessing in disguise. With the arrival of the former Umbrella Academy came the opportunity to get my revenge.”

“What was this opportunity?” Chris asked.

“The junkie must have been looking for things to pawn, because he emptied out a box into the dumpster behind their mansion and went to sell the box,” Jenkins said.

“Klaus,” Allison and Diego said in unison, Diego’s voice more of a growl.

“So I went through the contents.”

“And they were?”

“Training notes on all of the children,” Leonard replied. “Including the existence of a seventh child, one too powerful for Hargreeves to control.”

“Shit,” Chris breathed. “Those must be the notes Pogo was looking for.”

“So not quite breaking in for them,” Ava commented, “but along the right path.”

“What?” Diego shot Chris a sharp look.

“Speculating with Ava,” Chris waved him off. “I’ll explain more later. So the notes told you all about Vanya and her powers?”

“Yes.”

“Oh shit,” Allison breathed, the pieces finally clicking.

Vanya had used her powers to alert Ava and Chris that she was here, alone and alive. Vanya had tried to use her powers help them when Hazel and Cha-Cha had broken in to the Academy. Vanya had used her powers to save Chris’s life.

Vanya was not the ordinary sister, cast aside and deemed useless by their father. Vanya had tamed a power their father had deemed uncontrollable.

“Where are those notes now?” Chris continued.

“In my bag on the kitchen table.”

“I’ll get them,” Diego offered.

Chris shrugged. “Okay. As long as you get them back to Pogo. He’s been worrying about not being able to find them.”

Diego nodded, disappearing into the kitchen.

“So you figured, Vanya would think she’s ordinary, but you would be able to pull her out of her shell and show her she had powers, am I right so far?” Chris asked.

Jenkins nodded. “Yes,” he ground out.

“And then you would use her in your revenge against the Academy?”

“Yes.”

“And the first step to making that really happen was stealing her meds,” Ava said grimly.

“Yes.”

Vanya laughed, the first sound she had made since Jenkins had attacked Chris. “But you misjudged everything,” she mumbled, her voice muffled in Ava’s shoulder. “I never thought I was ordinary. My parents never let me believe I was.”

“Seriously, they were adamant enough to make me gag,” Chris said, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face.

“So you realized you had powers when you were young?” Allison asked.

Vanya shook her head, still leaning against Ava. “Not until college,” she replied. “When Ava convinced me to go off my meds. Mom and Dad never knew though. We decided to keep them in the dark.”

“Mom was fussy like that,” Chris explained succinctly. “Would have freaked if V went off her meds, would have freaked even more at her powers.”

“N Dad could never keep a secret from Mom.”

“But enough about V,” Chris said. “Moral of the story is, seems your plan had more fucking holes than a shitty book has plot holes.”

“It was a fine plan!” Jenkins snarled.

“Yeah, sure, you just didn’t count on Vanya being anything other than the wallflower her meds made her and Daddy Hargreeves expected her to be.”

“Don’t call Dad that,” Diego said, reentering the living room with a book in his hands. “Seriously, it’s really weird man.”

Chris shrugged. “Any more questions?” he asked the Hargreeves.

“So how were you going to get revenge on us?” Allison asked.

“By making sure Vanya got the solo in her concert tomorrow, we could use her power in that concert to destroy the Academy once and for all,” Jenkins explained flatly.

“Are you fucking serious?” Allison was startled by Ava’s exclamation. “I don’t know what’s in that fucking journal, but if fucking _Hargreeves _was afraid of V’s powers, how did you think you could control them to destroy the Academy?”

“If things had gone to plan—”

“Not that,” Ava hissed. “But do you think you would just stop at the Academy?”

Vanya nodded in agreement, raising her head to rest her chin on Ava’s shoulder. “If things had gone to plan,” she murmured. “I wouldn’t know my limits. Activating my powers during a concert to destroy the Academy… we’d be lucky if _just _the city was destroyed.”

Allison gasped.

“You could cause the fucking apocalypse?” Diego demanded.

“Maybe. Theoretically.” Vanya closed her eyes and nestled into Ava’s shoulder. “I don’t want to try and find out.”

“Well, that’s all the questions from me,” Diego said. “At least for this bastard.” He glanced at Allison, who agreed.

“So what do we do with this prick now?” Chris asked, glaring down at Jenkins.

“Five said that Commission place was trying to protect him to ensure the apocalypse,” Diego said, looking at Allison for confirmation. “So kill Jenkins, stop the apocalypse?”

“Makes sense,” Allison said.

Chris shook his head. “I’m not even gonna ask _how _that makes sense, but I’m down for that plan.”

Ava nodded her agreement.

Chris crouched in front of Vanya and Ava. “V, he’s your stalker,” he said quietly. “Ultimately, I’d say your decision has priority.”

Diego made a noise of protest at that.

“And you get the honor of slitting that prick’s throat, if you want.” Chris held out his knife to Vanya.

Vanya looked at it and shook her head. “You do it,” she mumbled. “I—if Allison thinks he needs to die then do it, but I—I can’t do it.”

Chris nodded, standing again and flipping his knife casually.

“You’d better take care of him properly this time,” Diego muttered.

“Oh quiet you,” Chris shot back.

Jenkins struggled as Chris approached. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“What does it fucking look like?” Chris knelt and grabbed Jenkins by the hair, forcing his head back and putting his knife against his throat.

“You stalked my sister,” he hissed, “kidnapped her, wanted to fucking manipulate her and use her in your stupid _revenge plan_, and according to them you were trying to bring about the fucking apocalypse_._ Well guess what, _Leonard_. You fuck with my sister, and there is nothing in this _world _that can save you.”

Chris grinned, cold and feral behind a mask of charm. “Too bad you didn’t plan for _that_.”

And with that, Chris slit Jenkins’s throat, then stood and watched impassively as Jenkins choked on his own blood.

Vanya hid her face in Ava’s shoulder.

Allison thought that this probably wasn’t the first time Chris had seriously injured or even killed somebody to protect Vanya, and made a mental note to never do anything to hurt Vanya or piss off Chris.

“Where should we dump the body?” Diego asked.

“Anywhere should be fine,” Chris snorted. “Lake will probably be the best, if we want it hidden for the longest.”

Diego nodded.

“Want help?” Chris offered.

“I think I’ve got it,” Diego said. “Go take care of Vanya.” He must have made the same mental note as Allison.

Chris nodded, and as Jenkins stilled on the floor, he went and helped Vanya to her feet, murmuring lowly.

Allison moved to help Diego get rid of the unconscious, dying man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And bold of y'all to assume I could bear killing off Chris lol  
But ya byeeee Leonard you're a dick!!


	15. 2 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 4

By the time they arrived back at the Academy, night had fallen. Allison had invited them in, saying that their mother could check up on Vanya and make sure she was alright after what she’d been through. Chris couldn’t remember if he’d heard anything about the Academy kids’ mother when he had researched them, but you know what, this entire week and all these Hargreeves kids had been so _damn weird _that he was just going along for the ride by this point.

As such, he stood by the door while the Hargreeves’s mother (Grace) fussed over Vanya. Allison and Diego had disappeared, presumably to talk to the rest of the family about apocalypse shit. Ava had gone to call her ex and remind the bastard that the nugget really wanted to see Vanya’s concert tomorrow, so custody shit be damned he better fucking bring her round.

“Well,” Grace said, straightening up. “Luckily, no lasting damage. Just a few lingering side effects from starvation and exhausting herself.”

Chris held himself back from snapping at her for stating the obvious.

“But nothing a good night’s sleep and a good meal won’t fix!” Grace continued brightly. “You can stay here for the night—”

“Or we could go home?” Chris didn’t like the thought of spending the night in this creepy, empty mansion.

“Chris.” Vanya looked exhausted and sad, curled up on the bed. “I’m sure one night here won’t hurt. You could finally read those notes Pogo promised us.” She smiled weakly, trying to reassure Chris.

“You sure?”

Vanya nodded.

Chris sighed. “Alright then.” He crossed the room to kiss the top of her head, then ruffled her hair quickly afterwards. “Get some sleep V. I’ll be nearby, once I see what Ava’s up to and I get those notes from Pogo.”

“Okay.” Vanya slowly tipped over, her eyes already closing.

Chris tucked her in, then turned to Grace. “Watch over her while I’m gone?” he asked.

“Of course.” Grace smiled at him, almost too chipper for the situation. But Chris was tired, and he was so _done _with all this bullshit, so he just nodded and went to find Ava.

He found her at the phone she had used to try and contact Vanya last night (and didn’t _that _feel a lifetime ago).

“Are you fucking—”

Sounded like she was having a _lovely _conversation.

Ava sighed heavily. “Seriously, what the fuck—”

A pause.

“No of course I don’t swear this fucking much around my own daughter, but you can fucking handle it, and moreover, you fucking _deserve _it—”

Ava stopped short. “Oh my god you’re a lucky motherfucker,” she growled. “We’ll see. I’ll get there as soon as I can. Which might not be until tomorrow, so try and fucking figure out how to be a fucking parent!” She slammed the phone down without even a goodbye.

“How’s the nugget?” Chris asked as he made his presence known.

“I don’t know why he asks for custody,” Ava groaned, hands covering her face. “He’s so damn clueless on how to raise a fucking kid.”

“So he’s asking for your intervention yet again?”

“Yeah.” Ava sighed, then straightened up. “How’s V?”

“Gonna be fine, according to Momma Hargreeves. She’s asleep now. I’m gonna go find Pogo and grab those training notes, then chill with her until morning.”

“Sleep.” Ava’s eyes were dark and serious. “You barely slept in the car last night.”

“Neither did you.”

“And I’m planning on it, at some point soon.” Ava yawned. “But first I’m gonna yell at your stupid ass to get in a bed asap.”

“Because you like yelling at me?” Chris fell easily into the familiar banter.

“Because V’s not up and about to do it herself, so as her best friend the duty falls to me.” Ava smirked. “And yes, because I like yelling at you.”

Chris sighed. “Fine. But only if you go take care of the nugget and then sleep yourself.”

Ava hesitated. “Are you sure y’all will be fine?”

“If V wakes up asking for you, I’ll call you,” Chris promised. “I’m assuming you’ll crash at V’s place after the nugget?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” Chris shoved at Ava. “Get going. I can take care of V from here.”

“You know, I don’t doubt that,” Ava said, then hesitated. “You gonna be okay?”

“When V wakes up and we can leave, yeah,” Chris sighed.

“You know what I mean you fuck. The whole Leonard deal.”

Chris sighed heavily. “I’m sure you have an idea of what I was like when I was younger.”

“Like me before I met V?”

Chris nodded.

“I’ve never asked before, but what changed?”

“Vanya needed me,” Chris said quietly. “So I needed to sober up and stop being a stupid reckless idiot with no regard for his own life so I could help her. And no you can’t quote me on that,” he added.

Ava stuck her tongue out childishly at him, which he returned in kind.

“You sure you’ll be okay?” she asked once their moment of childishness had passed.

“Yeah.” Chris shrugged. “It was for V. And the fucker deserved it.”

“You’re not wrong,” Ava nodded. “Call me with any updates.”

“Will do.”

They parted ways, Ava off to her idiot ex’s house, and Chris to hunt down Pogo.

It took longer than he would have liked to find the chimpanzee, and even longer to convince him to part with the notes as promised (“Just for the night, I swear they won’t even leave the premises”), but finally Chris made his way back to Vanya’s room to check on his sister and fall asleep reading by her side.

There, he found Grace sitting in a chair in the corner, humming while working on a cross-stitch, but no Vanya.

Chris stopped dead in the doorway. “Grace, where’s Vanya?”

“Oh?” Grace looked up from her cross-stitch. “Oh, Luther came in and took her.”

“Where?”

Chris was starting to regret a lot of things in his life. Leaving Vanya alone here. Not fighting the fucking monkey when they had first met. Not arguing harder to stop his sister from getting caught up in this fucking _madness_.

“He didn’t say.” Grace frowned for a moment, then smiled again. “He did say it was to protect everybody though. Oh, he’s still the same as he was when he was younger. Always wanting to protect and save the world.”

“Grace.” Chris fought down the intense need to punch _something _for fucking with his little sister _yet again_ and crouched in front of the woman. “I need to know where Vanya is,” he said. “Luther’s goal is to protect everybody, but mine is to protect Vanya and Vanya alone. Is there anywhere he would have taken her?”

Grace continued smiling, but blinked rapidly for a few moments.

“Hargreeves knew about her powers,” Chris said. “Is there _anywhere _in this house that he might have constructed to neutralize those powers?” He had no idea what had happened to Vanya those four years she had been in the Academy. He didn’t even know if Vanya knew. But he had to pursue every avenue, follow every path of her unknown past to ensure his sister was _safe_.

“Yes,” Grace finally said. “Their father did construct a chamber when he began training Number 7. In case of emergencies, he said. It never saw any use though. Number 7 turned out to be powerless, so I named her Vanya and her father sent her off to be adopted. They were a lovely couple.” Grace’s gaze was faraway. “They had a little boy, just a few years older than dear Vanya.”

Grace looked hardly older than Chris himself, but holy _shit _she was either batshit crazy or had really bad Alzheimer’s, what with the way she was getting lost in the past. And either option had Chris wondering why Allison had recommended her as a makeshift doctor. But at least she had some (hopefully) good information hidden amongst the crazy.

“Where is this chamber?” Chris asked gently. The woman may be a little cuckoo, but she was also his best chance at finding Vanya right now.

“Oh, it’s in the basement. Would you like me to show you?”

“Yes please.” Chris stood and followed Grace out of the room, already ready to kick Luther’s _ass _for taking his sister.

“So you’re telling me that Vanya, our long-lost _ordinary _sister, has powers?”

Allison nodded.

“Dad wouldn’t have made a mistake though,” Luther argued.

“He didn’t,” Pogo interrupted. “Your father knew all about Miss Vanya’s powers. However, he determined that she was too powerful to be able to control her powers, so he did everything to ensure she would live a normal life, and then she was adopted by Chris’s parents.”

“So if Dad thought she was dangerous, why are we just sitting around?” Luther demanded. “We should be making sure she’s not going to pose a threat.”

“She won’t,” Diego said, glaring at Luther.

“Vanya didn’t even want to hurt Harold Jenkins, and he kidnapped her and kept her tied up in the middle of nowhere,” Allison insisted.

“Just because she doesn’t mean to doesn’t mean there’s no possibility of her accidentally hurting somebody,” Luther argued.

“She has more control over her powers than Klaus has over his,” Diego countered.

“Hey!” Klaus protested, mostly forgotten as he curled on a couch.

“She is not a threat,” Diego continued, ignoring Klaus. “If anybody is, it would be Chris. And if you mess with her, he will be out for blood.”

“I can handle him,” Luther said. He easily had a foot of height on the other man, not to mention his super strength.

“Luther.” Allison grabbed his arm. “Don’t do anything stupid regarding Vanya.”

“I won’t,” Luther promised her. “But at the very least, somebody should watch her.”

“Fine. I’ll do it.” Diego started to leave.

Luther grabbed him. “I’m Number 1. I’ll do it.”

Diego sighed heavily, but he obviously knew a fight he couldn’t win, because he took a step back. “Fine. Do what you want.”

Luther nodded, then started for the room where Vanya was being kept. Chris had disappeared somewhere, leaving a sleeping Vanya alone with Grace.

“Hello Luther,” Grace greeted as he entered the room.

“Hey Mom.” As Luther stared at the sleeping time-bomb in their midst, he knew he couldn’t leave this threat unchecked.

“Mom, did Dad ever mention a way of neutralizing Vanya’s powers?”

Grace blinked rapidly in that way she did when she wasn’t quite sure how to process his request. For all the programming she had, she still wasn’t perfect at being human.

“Well,” she finally said. “It was a long time ago, but I do believe your father mentioned that he built a chamber in case Number 7 needed to be neutralized. It never saw any use, of course,” she laughed.

“Where would this chamber be?” Luther asked.

“In the basement, I believe.”

Luther nodded, then went to pick Vanya up.

“Oh, Chris asked me to watch over her,” Grace said.

“Mom, it’s important that I take her.” It would be too much effort to explain everything to Grace. “To protect everybody, okay?”

Grace hesitated.

“It’s what Dad would want.”

“Well, alright then.” Grace smiled. “I’ll wait here for Chris then.”

Luther nodded and left the room, heading for the basement to find this chamber their father had built for Vanya.


	16. 2 Days Until the Apocalypse Pt 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School's already kicking my ass and this chapter didn't want to be written, but the next one is already half written and we're almost there!

Allison looked through the window at Vanya, unconscious on the floor of what had to be a sound-proof chamber. Her heart in her throat, she turned to Luther. “We have to let her go.”

“No.” Of course, Luther had made up his mind and nothing they could say would change his mind. “Five said the apocalypse happens in the next few days, and you two said yourselves, she admitted to having enough power to cause it.”

“There are better ways to ensure she doesn’t cause it,” Allison argued.

“Yeah, come on Luther,” Klaus chimed in. “Vanya’s nice, she wouldn’t cause the apocalypse.”

“And how do you know that?” Luther demanded.

“Because I’ve actually had a proper conversation with her.” Klaus met their brother’s eye steadily.

“Yeah, considering how many times Vanya’s come here looking for you, I actually don’t doubt that,” Diego commented.

“And Klaus is really the best judge of character.” Luther rolled his eyes as he turned to face Diego.

“If Ben were here he’d agree with me.”

“Well he’s not,” Luther snapped.

Their argument was interrupted by the rattling sound of the lift descending to the basement. As Allison had been fearing ever since she knew Vanya was locked down here, Grace pulled back the grate to reveal a pissed-off Chris.

Chris immediately zeroed in on Luther. “Let her go,” he growled.

“No.” Luther definitely had guts, staring directly at Chris who looked like he wanted to cut a bitch.

“I swear to fuck—” Chris cut off, distracted by something behind Luther.

Allison turned to see Vanya was awake and gesturing at Chris.

Chris shook his head.

Vanya gestured more forcefully.

Chris huffed. “You might want to get out of the way,” he muttered, taking Klaus by the arm and pulling him off to the side, away from the door.

“What?” Luther looked taken aback by Chris’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Get out of the fucking way of the door,” Chris snapped, all his vitriol returned with vigor when talking to Luther.

“Why?”

“Luther, just do it,” Allison said. As annoyed as she was with her brother right now, she didn’t want to see him hurt because he refused to listen to others.

Luther scowled, but listened to her and moved aside. “We aren’t letting her out until after tomorrow, until after we’re sure she won’t cause the apocalypse,” he started explaining to Chris.

But any further conversation was cut off by the sounds of an explosion as the door to the chamber was ripped off its hinges.

Vanya woke up far too soon for her liking. She grumbled to herself, rolling over and intending on pulling the blankets close, but realized two things at once. Her warm blankets were gone, and she was lying on a cold, hard floor.

Vanya opened her eyes and sat up, immediately alert. Where was she? How had she gotten here? _Where was Chris?_

The first could be partially answered by looking around. She recognized the paneling on the wall as some sort of acoustic panels, from when she and Chris and Ava had played around with soundproofing a room to help Vanya control her powers. But who would have built this room that was so quiet Vanya swore she could hear her own heartbeat?

There was a window built into the door of the room, and Vanya looked out. Allison, Luther, Klaus, and Diego were all outside, looking like they were arguing. Well there was a few more answers. If Vanya had to bet, this room had probably been built by Hargreeves for her, and judging by the way Luther seemed to be arguing with the other three, it was probably his fault she was in this room. Now for the important question.

Where the fuck was Chris?

Vanya tried to get the attention of the Hargreeves siblings, but as she expected, if no noise was coming in, any that she made wouldn’t get out. As Vanya was debating her next move, there was movement from behind the Hargreeves siblings. Chris stormed up to Luther, looking like he was mere moments away from fighting him.

Vanya got to her feet, waving at her brother. She wasn’t keen on determining the victor of _that _fight quite yet.

It took a moment, but Chris noticed her. Vanya gestured at him to stand down.

Chris shook his head stubbornly.

_Stand. Down_. If anybody could pull Chris off the warpath, it was Vanya.

Chris didn’t look happy, but Vanya could see him unwinding slightly. Vanya signaled that Chris should move out of the way.

He huffed, but did so, taking Klaus out of the danger zone as well.

Vanya was so, _so _tired, but she pulled her tuning fork out of her pocket and struck it. The sound was quickly absorbed by the walls, too fast for her to use to activate her powers. Vanya sighed, irritated, but realized it was so quiet she could hear her own heartbeat. That would work.

Vanya focused on the noise and kicked down the door with her powers. She stumbled, still exhausted from earlier and this use of her powers doing nothing to help, but Chris was through the door in an instant, pulling her into a hug.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

Vanya nodded numbly.

“Come on.” Chris shifted so he was supporting Vanya.

It was a testament to how tired she was, as she didn’t fight off Chris’s grip or his mothering.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Luther demanded.

“I’m taking my sister home like I should have done earlier,” Chris snapped back. “Not like you can keep her locked up here, for the safety of the world or whatever. Not with the door off its fucking hinges.”

“Hey—”

Chris ducked out from his position supporting Vanya, and was at Luther’s throat in an instant, knife snapping out to back up his threat. “No, you listen here you fucking monkey,” he hissed. “If you dare fucking _touch _Vanya again, I will make sure you end up like Leonard did. Just ask Allison or Diego what happened to him. But don’t you fucking _dare_ touch her again or you _will _regret it.”

Chris didn’t hang around to see the impact of his threat, whirling around and helping Vanya to the lift. Vanya just buried her face in her brother’s shoulder as they ascended through the Hargreeves mansion. She just wanted this nightmare to be over.


	17. The Night Before the Apocalypse

“Hey, this is Vanya.” Vanya’s voicemail picked up, and Chris sighed. Ava must either be passed the fuck out, or still dealing with the asshole. “Leave a message and I’ll get back to you.”

“Hey Ava,” Chris said. “Hope you’re just asleep and not still dealing with that fuck. Ummm…”

He hesitated on how to break this to Ava, then decided he was too damn tired to mince words.

“Those Hargreeves are assholes. Mostly Luther. V’s at my place now. Come by tomorrow if you’d like. Otherwise we’ll see you at the concert. Yeah. That’s about it. Or call if that works better, I don’t know, whatever. See ya.”

He hung up with another sigh, then grabbed his bottle of whiskey and headed out to the balcony.

Vanya had refused sleep once they had gotten inside, and Chris let his sister wander while he had taken care of shit and called Ava. As of now, she was sitting with her back against the balcony railing, nursing a bottle of vodka and a cup of something _violently _red.

“Where’d the blood come from?” Chris teased as he sat next to her, sliding his legs through the gaps in the railing as he often did while sitting out here.

Vanya blinked at him.

“The cup V,” Chris clarified gently.

“Oh.” Vanya looked down. “It’s Gatorade.”

“Ah. Forgot I kept some of that shit around for you to use as a mixer.”

Vanya just nodded, taking a drink.

“V.”

Vanya hardly reacted.

“Vanya.”

She finally looked up.

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“All this.” Chris uncapped his whiskey and took a long drink. It had been one of those weeks. “For letting both those bastards get to you. I shouldn’t have left you alone. Especially not in that creepy-ass mansion.”

“You couldn’t have known Chris,” Vanya said quietly. “With Leonard, with Luther, you couldn’t have predicted what they would do, but you were there the second you found out.”

Chris hated how rational her words were. “If I were a good brother, you would not have access to that bottle of vodka,” he said, deciding to stop seriously arguing the point, at least for tonight.

“So why do I have it?” Vanya recognized his concession, and Chris was pleased at the small smile that graced her face.

“Because at heart, I’ve always been a terrible influence. And it’s more fun to drink with somebody than to drink alone.” Chris clinked his bottle of whiskey against her glass, then took a swig.

“Oh, you’re sad if you know that second one for a fact.” Vanya hid her smile in her glass.

Chris hummed noncommittally, shrugging.

As the silence fell around them, so did Vanya’s good mood evaporate. Chris wasn’t entirely surprised, her eyes had still looked so sad, but he was definitely concerned about his sister. And so he rifled in his pockets.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Vanya looked down. “Oh my god you’re so cheesy.”

But she took the offered penny, twirling it between her fingers. And so Chris waited patiently for her to speak.

“I’m… tired.”

“It’s been a long few days.”

Vanya shook her head, but looked at a loss for words.

Chris held out an arm. Vanya hesitated, then scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder as he gave her a one-armed hug.

“I’m so tired Chris.”

And Chris rescued her glass from an unfortunate fate as she dropped the bottle of vodka to cling to him.

“I gotcha V.” Chris held his sister close as she cried into his shoulder.

As the tears dried up, Vanya slowly let go of Chris. It took him a few moments longer to release his grip on her, waiting to see if she was sure.

“Brb,” he murmured, setting down his whiskey and pressing a kiss to the top of her hair as he stood.

Vanya waited until he returned to respond. “You and your fucking text speak in real life.” She accepted the tissues he had brought gratefully.

“Psh. It’s charming and you know it.”

“Sure.” She hesitated. “Thanks.”

“Somebody’s gotta hold you when you need to cry,” Chris said. “And Mom and Dad aren’t here, and Ava’s dealing with the asshole and the nugget or she’s hopefully asleep, so the duty falls to me, and even if there were others available I’d still be here to offer because you’ve been through a _shit _week V.”

“Yeah.” Vanya laughed, wiping away a few errant tears. “Yeah, it’s been so fucking _shitty_. And let’s be real, the vodka ain’t helping me not cry here.”

“You should sleep.” Chris obviously wasn’t terribly serious about his suggestion, as he promptly handed Vanya her drink again.

“The last time I slept, I woke up locked in a soundproof room,” Vanya deadpanned. “The previous three, I woke up in Leonard’s cabin in the woods.”

“This time, you’ll wake up in my apartment.”

Vanya stared down at her drink, not wanting to voice the fear that she’d wake up and Chris would be gone, and somebody else would have kidnapped her for their stupid _plans_.

“But if you don’t believe me, tell me how I can make you believe it.”

Vanya shrugged helplessly.

“Letting you get so drunk you pass out against your will?”

“I did entertain the thought,” Vanya admitted, taking a sip of her spiked Gatorade.

Chris reached around her for the abandoned bottle of vodka and splashed some in her cup. “If that’s what it’ll take,” he said with a quick, cocky grin.

“You dick.” Vanya reclaimed the bottle so Chris wouldn’t add anymore. She could only handle so much of a drink that blatantly tasted of vodka.

Silence fell between the siblings, each sipping at their respective alcohol of choice. Chris eventually pulled out a cigarette and lit it, the smell of smoke curling around them and mingling with the faint, acrid scent of alcohol.

Vanya finally broke the silence. “Chris?”

Chris hummed in response.

“Do you know why Luther locked me up?” It had been gnawing at her since they had left the mansion.

Chris sighed, watching smoke drifting up towards the stars. “He mentioned something, right before you bust out,” he said. “Something about making sure you wouldn’t cause the apocalypse.”

“Like, related to Diego and Allison’s rambling about the apocalypse when we were at Leonard’s?” Vanya asked.

“Probably.” Chris drew out the word. “I don’t know for sure. And I’m not too keen on going back there for answers at the moment.”

Vanya nodded in agreement. “Do you think I could cause the apocalypse?”

“Could you?” Chris repeated, taking a drag of his cigarette. “Theoretically, power-wise, probably. We’ve never quite tested your limits that far, but I’d say it’s not outside the realm of possibility.”

“And actually?” Vanya prompted as Chris fell silent.

“Depends on how you’d define apocalypse.”

Vanya rolled her eyes. “Chris, there’s like one definition of apocalypse. End of the fucking world.” She let out a heavy sigh. “Goddamn, I don’t feel like I’m drunk enough to debate the possibility of me ending the fucking world.”

Chris reached for her vodka again, and Vanya didn’t protest this time as he added more, only balancing it out with the Gatorade she had tucked into the corner of the balcony earlier before downing the rest of her glass.

“End of the world, like complete destruction of everything,” Chris said, “or…”

Goddamn he knew how to capture an audience.

“Or?”

“Just the end of the world as we know it.”

Vanya frowned. “I’m a lil too tipsy to connect the dots here Chrissy.”

“Rather than everybody and everything dying, it’s more like… changing the world,” Chris explained. “So hopefully everything will be less of a shithole. Causing the apocalypse like they expect you to, but on your own damn terms.”

Vanya let out a laugh. “You really think I could do something like that?”

“I’m not saying you could,” Chris said, “but I’m not saying you _couldn’t_.”

Vanya lightly smacked his arm. “You’re drunk Chrissy.”

“Drunk Chris has the best ideas and you know it.” Chris winked.

“Let’s ask Eric about that, shall we?”

“Shh, don’t jinx it, he still hasn’t given my draft back.”

“Not good Chrissy.”

“Shhhh.”

Vanya giggled at her brother’s insistence.

“Anyways,” Chris continued, waving his cigarette around carelessly and slinging an arm around Vanya’s shoulders as she scooted closer to him, “moral of the fucking story is, you could probably change the fucking world if you tried V. If you wanted to try.”

“And do you think I should?” Vanya leaned against Chris’s shoulder again, blinking slowly against the way the world was blurring in front of her eyes.

“Up to you.”

“But what do you think?”

Chris hummed. “The world’s kinda shit,” he said. “N if you could change it that would be dope. But ultimately it’s your decision V. Your powers n all.”

“Of course you’d say that.” Chris smelled like whiskey and cigarette smoke, the combination so familiar and comforting to Vanya that she didn’t even realize her eyes were slipping closed against her will.

“Finished with your drink?” Chris had obviously noticed, if his lowered voice was anything to go by.

Vanya relinquished her hold on her glass as Chris took it from her, then as her brother resumed his former position, she curled up against his side.

“Okay.” Vanya could hear the barely contained laugh in Chris’s voice. “Yeah, okay, just fall asleep on the fucking balcony.”

“Fuck off.” There was really no in-between. Now that Vanya had given way even slightly to the allure of sleep, it was tugging her down, down, down into oblivion.

“Yeah, okay.”

Chris didn’t let go though, and Vanya quickly knew no more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I wrote this chapter, the thought occurred to me. Chris from the outside looks relatively well put together and can even appear sophisticated in the wrong light. And then you get close and realize this is a disaster human who drinks his whiskey straight from the bottle and completes his deadlines on Redbull and vodka and has a very high disregard for rules/the law


	18. The Day of the Apocalypse

Vanya woke with a start as somebody knocked loudly. It took her a few moments of heart-racing panic to recognize where she was, on the pullout couch in Chris’s living room.

Chris himself appeared moments later, looking like he had slept in his clothes last night. And from what Vanya knew of her brother, it was probably true.

“I’ll get it,” Chris mumbled to Vanya, who nodded and pulled the blankets tighter around her.

As the visitor knocked again, Chris unlocked the door. “Jesus fuck have some fucking patience,” he grumbled as he opened the door.

“No can do Chrissy.”

Vanya relaxed at Ava’s voice, even as Chris growled and half-heartedly swiped at her for the nickname.

“You had a visitor this morning V.”

“Oh?” Vanya racked her brain for people who would be stopping by her apartment this early in the morning… until she glanced at the clock and realized it was two in the afternoon.

… Fair.

But despite it being later than she expected, Vanya still had no clue who the visitor was, until Ava rolled over the back of the couch to land next to Vanya.

“Hey.” Klaus lingered in the doorway, obviously very aware of Chris’s dark gaze.

“Good Hargreeves Chris, stand down,” Vanya said.

“Ah. Must be the ever elusive Klaus then.” Chris took a few steps back, silently inviting Klaus in.

“You know, people usually say the opposite. That I hang around even when I’m not wanted.” Klaus sauntered in, his confidence returning with Chris’s acceptance.

Chris snorted, half-smirking at Klaus. “Well, apparently you and I are supposed to have a chat since like, five days ago, buuut,” Chris stretched, “first things first, I’mma shower and change.”

“Yeah, just because you are hungover doesn’t mean you need to look it at V’s concert,” Ava teased.

Chris flipped her off over his shoulder as he disappeared into his room.

Ava turned to Vanya. “What happened last night V?” she asked. “Klaus said it’d be better if I heard it from you, and all Chris said was that the Hargreeves are assholes.”

“Yeah.” Vanya hesitated, curling against Ava’s side.

“Or I can ask Chris if you’d like me to,” Ava said.

“No.” Vanya shook her head. “I have some questions to ask Klaus too.”

Klaus froze, having just sat down in an armchair, a deer-in-headlights look on his face.

“Long story short, while I was asleep, they locked me up in a soundproof room because worrying that I’m dangerous. Well, I think it was just Luther who locked me up.” Vanya looked at Klaus as he sat. _I hope it was just Luther who decided to lock me up_.

“We had a family meeting when we got home,” Klaus explained, “and Luther was stubborn and insisted you were a threat. We thought we could compromise by just having one of us watching over you, but Luther went behind our backs and found that chamber Dad made in the basement and locked you up there. When we found out, we tried to get you out. Knowing the types of things Dad liked to do with his children…” Klaus trailed off with a high-pitched laugh. “Well, the fact he built you a soundproof chamber for your powers doesn’t bode well for what he had planned for you before he sent you away.”

“Why the fuck would V be a threat?” Ava asked. “Allison and Diego saw, she couldn’t even hurt her damn stalker!”

“Well, the thing is…” And Klaus launched into the whole story, some of which Vanya knew, all of which was new to Ava.

When they were thirteen, Five had time traveled against their father’s command and had gotten stuck in the post-apocalyptic future. He didn’t know what caused the apocalypse, only the date. Today.

So plucky little Five spent _ages _alone until he was an old man, which is when the Commission came and picked him up.

“You remember Hazel and Cha-Cha, right?” Klaus asked.

Vanya shook her head.

“The two who attacked the Academy.”

“Oh,” Vanya said, understanding dawning. “Those two in the masks.”

“Exactly,” Klaus said. “They’re Commission agents, which is why they attacked us.”

The Commission was a group that oversaw the timeline and kept it intact.

“And how do they do that?” Ava asked suspiciously.

“Murder.”

Vanya blanched.

Five had worked with the Commission for a number of years, all the while plotting to get back home and stop the apocalypse. He eventually succeeded, somewhat. Poor poor Five had managed to get home, but was now back in his thirteen-year-old body.

From there, the Commission sent agents Hazel and Cha-Cha to eliminate him. The Academy, and Vanya, got caught in the crossfire. Fast forward a few days of Five searching obsessively for the owner of a glass eye who was apparently the cause of the apocalypse, and Five somehow intercepts an order meant for Hazel and Cha-Cha dealing with the apocalypse.

Protect Harold Jenkins.

“Wait, you’re saying that prick had something to do with the apocalypse?” Ava demanded.

“Apparently,” Klaus shrugged. “Even Five wasn’t sure exactly what his role was, but if the Commission deemed him important enough to protect, then he’s probably a good target to stop the apocalypse.”

Sometime during the tale, Chris had finished his shower and reappeared, quietly taking a place leaning over the back of the couch. “And now he’s dead,” he said. “So yay, apocalypse averted?”

“Five thinks so,” Klaus shrugged. “We filled him in this morning, who _knows_ where that boy was last night, and he’s of the mindset that if _Vanya _was the cause of the apocalypse, the Commission would have said to protect her, not Harold Jenkins.”

“And Luther?”

“Well…” Klaus squirmed a little bit. “He still wants to make sure, cover all his bases he said, but Allison’s been talking him out of it.”

“Powers?”

“Not yet. But she looked exasperated enough when I left.”

“Speaking of which, why are you here?” Chris asked. “Trying to find Vanya?”

“Because,” Klaus drawled the word, turning to Vanya, “you promised dear Ben book recommendations, and the poor dear is getting impatient.”

“Oh really?” Vanya raised an eyebrow, grinning slightly.

Chris nudged her until she looked up. “You said it was Klaus looking for the book list.”

“Ben, and by association Klaus because he's the messenger boy,” Vanya explained.

“Huh.” Chris ruffled her hair in the way he knew she hated. “That’s what you get for being a little liar sis.”

Vanya stuck her tongue out at him, and he mirrored the action for a moment.

“Alright, let’s do this.” Chris stood up straight. “Be warned Ben, it is an _extensive list_.”

“Let’s go.”

Vanya blinked, because there was now a man sitting cross legged at the end of the couch bed, rubbing his hands together with glee on his face, glowing blue. He looked over at Vanya and waved. “Hi Vanya.”

“Ben?” Vanya glanced at Klaus, who was focused, his hands glowing the same blue as Ben.

Chris had apparently missed this development, because he came back and did a double take at the room’s new occupant. “Huh.” It didn’t take him long to put together the dots, but he took the appearance of a ghost in his living room in stride, plopping down on the foot of the bed across from Ben. “I hope you’re ready.”

“Oh I’ve been looking forward to this.”

“Nerds!” Ava jeered.

Vanya nudged her, because she could see how excited Ben was about this.

Chris just flipped Ava off, his grin borderline maniacal as he launched into The Book Recommendation List.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think... Just one more chapter? Holy shit we're almost done


	19. Apocalypse Now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explanation for this last chapter taking so damn long?  
1\. School's kicking my ass rip  
2\. The beginning really, _really_ didn't want to be written lol

“Aunty V!”

Vanya stifled a giggle as the curtain rose and her goddaughter excitedly pointed her out to Ava. A quick glance into the audience found Ava and Annalise in their usual spot right up front, Ava smiling in that exhausted way she did when Annalise was being a little _too _much of a handful as she prevented the little girl from hopping up onto the stage to join Vanya.

Vanya winked at the two, then turned her attention back to the conductor as he tapped his baton.

Truth be told, Vanya _almost _didn’t want to be here. The past week had been too much crazy, what with the dual drama of both Hargreeves kids and Leonard, and Vanya was honestly debating holing up in her apartment under a pile of blankets for a good long while. But she had loved music since she was little, had dreamed of something along these lines for just as long, and had been fighting for first violin in this orchestra since she had joined. Even if the circumstances under which she had gotten the position weren’t ideal (Chris and Ava had confirmed that Leonard had indeed killed Helen Cho), she would be _damned _if she was going to miss her first concert as first chair.

The notes flowed from the strings like water, the fingerings so familiar and practiced Vanya hardly needed to think about them. She had been practicing this solo long before she got the part, hoping to reach and surpass Helen’s level. Back when they still had a rivalry, back before Vanya’s life got turned upside down.

Vanya’s eyes wandered around the theater. She knew the song, had it memorized, knew when she would need to look back at the conductor for tempo changes, she knew she could look around. Annalise had settled in Ava’s lap, her eyes wide with wonder. Ava, used to Vanya’s concert habits, met her eye and winked with a smile. Vanya grinned and thanked everything she believed in that she and Ava had met and somehow stuck together. She couldn’t imagine life without the occasional hurricane that was her best friend and her goddaughter.

As she continued glancing around, she saw two familiar, not entirely surprising figures in the audience. Allison was watching the concert with a soft smile, settled in the middle of the theater. In a back corner was Klaus, curled up with an empty seat next to him. As Vanya watched, Ben flickered into view in the empty seat and waved.

And Vanya knew where she would find Chris, at the very top of the balcony. This time he was next to the No Smoking sign with a very obvious lit cigarette between his fingers. Vanya frowned at him, hoping he would be able to see from that distance.

He must have, because he waved in that Chris way of “I acknowledge your disappointment and I don’t give a fuck.”

A snippet of their drunken conversation the previous night crossed Vanya’s mind.

_“_ _Do you think I could cause the apocalypse?” _

_“I’m not saying you could, but I’m not saying you couldn’t.” _

Vanya would never admit this to him, but sometimes, _sometimes, _drunk Chris had somewhat decent ideas. Namely, his whole tangent on how she could cause the apocalypse, but on her own terms. Especially when it came to the information about the Commission Klaus had given them.

_“__Like, changing the world. Making things a little less shit._”

Vanya had had her fair share of bad experiences, especially considering everything that had happened this past week. There had been times where Ava would come home from parties or nights out, and her eyes would be dead and she’d curl up on her bed until Vanya coaxed her into the bare minimum of human existence. When Chris was nineteen and living on his own, Vanya had found him in his childhood bedroom, eyes dark and haunted, and when Vanya asked him what was wrong, he laughed drunkenly and mumbled, “I want to forget,” as he raised the bottle of vodka to his lips. Sometimes, Ava would watch Annalise sleeping, and Vanya could see the fear in her face, something Vanya mirrored as they watched over the little girl they loved so dearly and hoped the world wouldn’t hurt her.

_“Do you think I could change the world?”_

_ “If you wanted to try.” _

Vanya did something she had never tried before. She activated her powers in the middle of the orchestra.

She could feel the music’s power almost immediately, singing around her, almost begging to be used.

Chris smirked at her, obviously well aware of what she was doing.

_“_ _You could probably change the fucking world V.” _

Vanya gathered the music’s power around her, twisting it to her will.

And as the last note rung out through the theater, she looked at the world, and made it better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! That very, _very_ last phrase was planned since the very beginning and somehow managed to survive my twists and turns and make it into the final draft :)  
And there we have it! What was originally supposed to be one, _maybe_ two chapters of a lil headcannon I wanted to share with my best friend has turned into this monstrosity and man has it been fun to see all y'all's reactions to something I didn't know if anybody but my friend would read lol  
That being said.... this ain't exactly the end. Maybe.  
No, I'm not planning a sequel (we'll see how season 2 ends up, but also I think by now we've shot canon in the face so yeah...), buuuut I may or may not have some deleted scenes floating around in my head that I still regret tossing so like. If y'all are interested I could write those up and post them (examples include Chris _taking care_ of Leonard mentioned at the end of Chapter 9, Diego walking in on Vanya displaying her powers in 8 Days Until the Apocalypse, etc.) So like, if you're interested in shit like that, lemme know lol


End file.
